Republicans seek Arctic oil drilling compromise
Date: 27-Sep-02
Country: USA
Author: Tom Doggett
However, Democratic negotiators expressed skepticism that a deal could be struck on what is one of the most contentious issues to be resolved in a wide-ranging energy bill intended to promote domestic production, encourage conservation and boost renewable energy sources.
At issue is whether to give big oil companies access to ANWR's potential 16 billion barrels of oil - a volume equal to the amount of crude the United States would import from all foreign suppliers for five years.
The Republican-led House has voted to open the refuge located in northeast Alaska, while the Democratic-controlled Senate decided to keep energy exploration out of the area.
The energy bill has taken on more urgency in recent weeks, with worries of U.S. military strikes against Iraq, which would cut off that nation's 2 million barrels per day of oil exports to the world.
However, critics say a disruption in Iraqi oil would not be offset by crude oil production from the Arctic refuge for years. Oil industry executives have acknowledged that it could take about eight years for peak production of an estimated 1 million barrels per day to start flowing from tundra regions.
Rep. Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican who is chairman of the joint Senate-House conference committee trying to hammer out a final bill, said he told President Bush that a deal may be reached on drilling in the Arctic refuge that would reduce the area opened for oil exploration.
"We discussed a compromise that would include scaling it (Arctic drilling) back dramatically," Tauzin said. "There's a lot of room for compromise on this issue."
COMPROMISE TO LIMIT LAND
ANWR, which is home to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife, sprawls across 19 million acres (7.7 million hectares) of Alaska's northeast corner.
The Republican-led House approved an energy bill last year that would limit drilling activities to about 2,000 acres (809 hectares) at any one time within 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) of the refuge's coastal plain.
Opening ANWR is the centerpiece of the White House's own energy plan. Bush, a Republican, is a former Texas oilman.
Tauzin said a compromise under consideration would make the refuge's eastern coastal plain near the U.S.-Canadian border, where caribou give birth, off limits to drilling and designate the area as a protected wilderness.
Tauzin emphasized that no drilling deal had been reached and that Bush did not say if he would support or reject a scaled back exploration area. "The president listened very tentatively (to the idea). He did not take a position on it," Tauzin said.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, one of the energy bill's lead negotiators, gave a more cautious assessment. Bingaman, who also attended the White House meeting, said there would be "strong opposition" to such an ANWR drilling compromise in the Senate.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut Democrat and possible 2004 presidential candidate, said this week that the Senate would "reject any efforts" to drill in the refuge.
Environmental groups also oppose opening any part of ANWR to drilling, saying lawmakers should instead focus on ways to improve energy conservation.
Tauzin said negotiators did not discuss with Bush whether the president would veto a bill that did not include ANWR drilling. "The president didn't take a position," he said.
Time is running out to finish the energy bill, as lawmakers still have to decide on billions of dollars in energy tax breaks, increased production of ethanol-blended gasoline, a plan to fight global warming and U.S. electricity market reforms.
Congress has said it aims to adjourn by mid-October so lawmakers can return home ahead of the November elections.
A final energy bill to promote domestic oil drilling, energy conservation and renewable sources of energy would have to be approved by the Senate and House.
Nonetheless, Tauzin said he expects negotiators to complete the energy bill
