USA Urged Not to Delay Arctic Drilling
The U.S. should immediately begin a push to exploit its enormous trove of oil in the Arctic waters off of Alaska, or risk a renewed reliance on imported oil in the future, reports AP.
The US Arctic potentially contains enough oil and gas to allow it to be a significant contributor to the country’s future energy needs, filling the hole left by expected declines in production of shale and other domestic sources of oil.
The U.S. has drastically cut imports and transformed itself into the world’s biggest producer of oil and natural gas by tapping huge reserves in shale rock formations. But the government predicts that the shale boom won’t last much beyond the next decade.
A U.S. Energy Department advisory council study released Friday says that in order for the U.S. to keep domestic production high and imports low, oil companies should start probing the Artic now because it takes decades of preparation and drilling to bring oil to market.
“To remain globally competitive and to be positioned to provide global leadership and influence in the Arctic, the U.S. should facilitate exploration in the offshore Alaskan Arctic now,” the study’s authors wrote.
The study, produced by the National Petroleum Council at the request of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, comes at a time when many argue the world needs less oil, not more. The push to make the Arctic waters off of Alaska more accessible to drillers comes just as Royal Dutch Shell is poised to restart its troubled drilling program there.
Oil production from U.S. Arctic waters likely would coincide with the long-term, expected decline in flowing from the lower 48 states, the National Petroleum Council estimates, effectively extending the country’s energy security in the 2030s and 2040s.
Environmental advocates say the Arctic ecosystem is too fragile to risk a spill, and cleanup would be difficult or perhaps even impossible because of weather and ice.
