By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 1 -- Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell asked US Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar and the federal government to work with the state of Alaska to accelerate development of Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf resources.
Currently, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement is considering a preferred alternative in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for OCS leasing.
Parnell asked Salazar to ensure that federal drilling regulators work directly with Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan to ensure Alaska’s input is considered as the process guiding OCS leasing moves forward.
“Instead of financing new foreign sources of oil in the OCS off Brazil, we need to develop and increase our domestic supply of oil and gas,” Parnell said in a Mar. 31 letter.
He cited a 2008 USGS report and a University of Alaska study detailing the massive reserves held in Alaska, and he outlined safety and spill prevention regulatory requirements in Alaska.
Rendering from Cedar LNG.
US Government Accountability Office.
