The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is extending the public comment period to November 6 for its draft supplemental plan outlining the scope of future oil and gas activity in the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) planning area.
The supplement addresses a list of issues and contains a range of alternatives regarding the BLM’s administration of public lands within the planning area. These alternatives are essentially unchanged from those analyzed in the Northeast NPR-A Final Amended Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and correct inadequacies in that plan identified in a 2006 decision of the U.S. District Court of Alaska.
The Court found that the amended 2006 EIS failed to fully consider the cumulative effects of oil and gas leasing in the planning area and in the adjacent Northwest NPR-A planning area. The new supplement adds this analysis.
Under the recentlyreleased supplement, 373,000 acres north and east of Teshekpuk Lake are further evaluated for leasing. This area was offlimits in a 1998 plan crafted by the Clinton administration for the Northeast area of the reserve, but was open to leasing in the amended 2005 plan. This area is considered to be among the most oilrich acreage in NPR-A, perhaps containing two billion barrels of oil. The area also contains large populations of waterfowl and caribou. It is coveted by local residents for subsistence hunting.
The four alternatives in the 2007 amendment range from opening 87 percent to 100 percent of the 4.6 million acres of the Northeast planning area to oil and gas exploration and development. While the agency clearly supported increased leasing in the 2005 plan over the 1998 proposal (Alternative A–No Action), the latest version does not indicate which alternative of the four BLM prefers.
Given industry’s track record with wildlife on the North Slope and the technological advances of the past decade, which have greatly reduced the development footprint, RDC supports Alternative C – full leasing.
NPR-A was specifically designated by Congress for the production of energy resources, and since the need for new oil production has increased, it is important that BLM provide access to the Northeast planning area’s most promising prospects. Alternative C would provide such access.
All of the producing fields on the North Slope are located within 25 miles of the coast. Eliminating substantial acreage within this belt could preclude the discovery of a major deposit.
Alternative C would utilize prescriptive to performancebased standards and procedures to mitigate impacts of energy development. In addition, seasonal stipulations and other protective measures would be applied to safeguard sensitive areas.
While Alternative C would open 100 percent of the area’s 4.6 million acres to oil and gas exploration, permanent facilities would be prohibited on more than 1,113,000 acres.
Oil and gas development in the petroleum reserve would benefit the economy by creating increased revenues and employment, while enhancing energy and economic security.
Revenues and employment generated by oil and gas development would be significantly greater under Alternative C than under the no action alternative.
RDC has posted an Action Alert on this issue at www.akrdc.org. Members are encouraged to submit comments by November 6.
