Nick Snow
Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 3 -- Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) confirmed he will press to include Arctic National Wildlife Refuge leasing in this year's budget resolution.
The disclosure came as he complimented Interior Sec. Gale A. Norton for her department's support Mar. 2 of environmentally responsible development of oil and gas resources along ANWR's coastal plain. Norton appeared before the committee to discuss the department's proposed fiscal 2007 budget.
Domenici also praised Norton for the department's effort to begin an oil shale leasing program and urged her to move quickly to get streamlined permitting fully operating in the Rocky Mountains.
"We want you to move quickly to get those permits out the door," he declared, noting that Congress authorized about $20 million/year for the pilot programs at the Bureau of Land Management.
That's where the money will stay, Domenici pledged. "The repeal of those provisions won't take place up here," he said.
He also noted that the Interior Department is expected to issue eight 160-acre leases for six oil shale projects in Colorado and two in Utah before June. Some companies competing for the leases have said extracting oil from oil shale would cost $40-80/bbl, he said.
"I am pleased to see that you requested funding for that program. I think there ought to be more that we can do to spur development of this resource," Domenici said.
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