When Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), was reelected chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee for the 109th Congress on Jan. 4, the first issue he mentioned was oil and gas leasing of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain.
"We are going to make a push to develop our vast oil resources in a way that leaves the environment pristine while stabilizing oil prices and enhancing our energy independence," Domenici said in a statement.
"I expect to receive instructions in the budget resolution to report ANWR language to the Budget Committee by early May. I will fight on the Senate floor to keep those instructions in the resolution and will fight again to defend our legislation in the budget reconciliation vote later this year."
Signs are growing that the producing industry's enthusiasm for ANWR leasing doesn't match Domenici's.
ConocoPhillips last year became the second producer on Alaska's North Slope to withdraw from Arctic Power, an interest group dedicated to winning congressional approval for leasing of the ANWR coastal plain. BP PLC withdrew in 2002.
"We have not been involved in the ANWR debate in many years and have focused our investment attention in Alaska toward the gas pipeline and development of other North Slope satellite fields," a ConocoPhillips spokesperson said. "Since ANWR is currently closed to development, we feel that any resolution or pledge on our part would be moot."
And oil and gas association officials in Washington, DC, while reiterating their groups' support of ANWR leasing, have not made authorization a prominent goal for 2005.
"We would like to see it, but it's not the be-all and end-all," said John C. Felmy, chief economist and director of policy and statistics at the American Petroleum Institute. "People in this town tend to distill issues into sides that are polar, but there's no black-and-white solution. There are a lot of gray areas that need to be considered."
Other industry observers have suggested that companies' support of opening ANWR is tempered by concern that environmental organizations would sue to keep permits from being issued and used once Congress authorized leasing. Such lawsuits could include lessees as defendants, generating large legal expenses from prolonged battles.
Also weighing against a major industry push for leasing of ANWR, which is thought to oil-prone, are shifts in drilling and political attention to natural gas.
Lee O. Fuller, vice-president of government relations at the Independent Petroleum Association of America, pointed out that the US is the world's third largest oil producer.
"But there's been a diminished focus on developing our domestic resource base," he added.