National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska

History

Oil exploration of Alaska's North Slope, the area north of the Brooks Range, began in the 23 million acre (9.43 ha) area known as the Naval Petroleum Reserve in 1923. When President Harding set aside the Reserve, the oil was designated for use in the case of a national energy emergency. This area, now known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) is the largest block of federally owned land in Alaska and is the largest piece of undeveloped federal land owned in the US. From the crest of the Brooks Range to the coastal areas of the Beaufort and Chuckchi Seas, it encompasses a vast area of rolling foothills, wild rivers and extensive coastal plain wetlands which provide critical habitats for millions of waterfowl, caribou, Arctic peregrine falcons, beluga whales and other wildlife.

From 1944 to 1953, the US Navy and US Geological Survey spent US $50-60 million in exploration and drilled 45 shallow core test wells and 36 test wells. Further exploration conducted by the Navy occurred in the 1970's resulting in 7 additional test wells at a cost of US $500 million. The Umiat field, discovered in 1946, remains the largest known field in the Petroleum Reserve at 70 million barrels of oil.

In 1976, with the passage of the Naval Petroleum Reserve Production Act, Congress transferred management of the area to the US Department of the Interior and re-named it the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA). Under the provisions of the 1976 Act, oil development in the area was prohibited except by act of the US Congress. However, the Petroleum Reserve was opened to oil company leasing and development in 1980 as a result of a so-called "rider" (an attachment to a government Appropriations bill) attached by Senator Ted Stevens, a Republican. Through this back door, the Reserve was opened and a further provision stated that 50 percent of the royalties from any oil extracted from the reserve would go only to the State of Alaska (despite the fact that the Reserve is federal land).

The Bureau of Land Management, an office within the US Department of Interior, conducted lease sales during the early 1980's and six oil companies obtained the vast majority of the leases: ARCO, Texaco, British Petroleum, Chevron, Shell and Exxon. Those earlier leases all have expired, and no current leases exist in the Reserve.

Current Plans

Interest in re-opening lease sales within the Reserve has remained high amongst the oil industry and intensified in 1997 with the announcement of the Alpine oil development by ARCO in the Colville River Delta adjacent to the Reserve.

In January 1997, Department of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbit announced a new effort to open up the Reserve, which is culminating in the 7 August 1998 announcement of the Final Environmental Impact Statement. The study looks at developing the Northeast corner of the Reserve, an area of approximately 4.3-4.6 million acres or 19 percent of the total area.

Despite the fact that the US is currently undergoing an energy glut, the Clinton Administration has proceeded quickly with opening the Reserve to new development. The announcement is also timed just 3 months before mid-term elections across the US and Alaska.

For information about the National Petroleum Reserve and the government planning process, see the Department of Interior website at http://wwwndo.ak.blm.gov/npra/default.html

Reserve Projections

Incomplete projections indicate that the total oil reserves available in this 4.3 million acre area are worth between US$500 million-US$2.2 billion, depending upon oil prices. A study from 1980 projected that approximately 9 billion barrels of oil reserves are present in the entire Reserve.

The Bureau of Land Management estimates that approximately 40 percent of all coal remaining in the US (400 billion to 4 trillion US tons, 406 billion to 4.1 billion tonnes) may underlie the Reserve. Significant gas reserves also are projected.

Top Five Reasons to Keep the Reserve Closed to Oil Development

1. Global Warming. Projections indicate that we can only afford to burn approximately 25 percent of known reserves of oil, coal and gas in order to remain within safe limits of global warming.

2. Impacts of Global Warming. The Western Arctic and Alaska already are warming approximately three times faster than the global average rate impacting human communities, glaciers, forests and wildlife.

3. Direct Habitat Destruction. The Reserve is a globally significant nesting and molting area for large numbers of birds. Over 20 percent of the entire population of Pacific black brant molt each year at Teshekpuk Lake alone. The bluffs along the Colville River are critical habitat for the peregrine falcon. The NPRA serves as calving grounds for two caribou herds (the 500,000 member Western Arctic herd and the 25,000 member Teshekpuk Lake herd. It also provides habitat for moose, rough-legged hawks and a vast array of other wildlife.

4. Give-away to Industry. Significant tax breaks and subsidies will flow to the oil industry in order to make it commercially viable for them to drill in the Reserve. These are funds which could be used for research and development of solar and renewable power and/or aggressive energy efficiency programs which could eliminate the need for new oil exploration and production in the region.

5. Domino Effect. Once 20 percent of the Reserve is open to new oil exploration, the entire Reserve (including areas cordoned off in this round) may well face a similar fate as road construction and pressure from oil companies could result in the development of oil fields throughout the entire area.
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