WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today testified before a House Natural Resources
subcommittee on the importance of reforming permitting processes that have
stalled responsible development of critical oil and natural gas resources in
the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).
While the Obama
administration has promised to hold annual lease sales in NPR-A, the biggest
obstacle to responsible oil and gas development is not the lack of leases but
the inability of companies to navigate the permitting process in a timely
manner.
“We have a permitting
problem, not just a leasing problem,” Murkowski said. “If every time a
leaseholder wants to produce from the NPR-A, it requires congressional hearings
and years of involvement from this many elected officials, we will not be in
much better position next time.”
Murkowski pointed to the
broken commitment made to Alaska
in 1980, when President Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act (ANILCA) into law. While signing the legislation, President
Carter stated that “100 percent of [Alaska’s]
offshore areas and 95 percent of the potentially productive [onshore] oil and
mineral areas will be available for exploration or for drilling.”
“As the Interior
Department reported last spring, less than 1 percent of federal lands in Alaska, and none of our
federal offshore lands, are producing any oil or natural gas,” Murkowski said.
“This is shameful and unacceptable because it represents not only a failure of
the federal government to allow taxpayers to benefit from their federal
resources, but also because it is an outright broken promise to the people of
the state of Alaska.”
Murkowski also questioned the
validity of the most recent estimate of oil and gas resources in NPR-A because
of the U.S. Geological Survey’s failure to consider the most promising areas,
and included no new field data, in their review. The USGS also failed to consult
with the state of Alaska
during the revision.
Murkowski has pressed the
administration on permitting issues connected with CD-5, the first proposed
development within NPR-A. While some progress has been made, Murkowski intends
to introduce legislation in the Senate, as a companion measure to H.R. 2150,
that would expedite NPR-A development.
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