Rep. Calvert: Lower the Price of Gas -- Embrace All Energy Exploration Options

Dear Friends,

             For the past several weeks I and other Representatives have gone to the House floor to demand that Leadership do something – anything – about the price of gasoline. Families in southern California are especially impacted since most working people have long commutes and must suffer through traffic congestion in our region. I’ve gone to the floor twice in the last two weeks to outline some basic principles of supply and demand: if supply increases, the price will drop (go to my website and view my latest floor statement, located on the right-hand side of the page). There are several ways to increase supply in the long-term such as creating alternative sources of energy and conservation. I am a strong advocate of all options to reduce our dependence on oil, especially foreign sources of oil. 

However, the quickest way to increase supply and reduce our dependence on foreign oil in the short-term is to develop our own domestic sources of oil.  One area that has proven reserves of oil is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. In 1980, the Congress and President Carter created the nearly 20 million acre ANWR, but they set aside 1.5 million acres of ANWR’s northern coastal plain for the purpose of future energy exploration and development. This parcel is known as the “1002” area, and according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the mean estimate of technically recoverable oil in ANWR is 10.4 billion barrels – all of which is now economically recoverable.  Daily oil production from ANWR could equal as much as one million barrels of oil per day, which is almost as much as the daily imports from Saudi Arabia.  Energy exploration would be limited to just 2,000 acres of ANWR’s“1002” area, which is equivalent to 0.01% of ANWR’s total acreage. The graphic below compares the size of ANWR and Section 1002 to the continental U.S. (the "1002" area - representing 1.5 million acres - is the light yellow shaded area at the top of the orange portion.  The 2,000 acres needed for oil extraction is too small to represent on the map.):

             There are undoubtedly some who are concerned about the environmental effects of energy exploration in ANWR, regardless of how much or how little oil and gas is ultimately produced.  To ensure environmental impacts are minimized and mitigated, energy exploration would utilize modern technology and advances in Arctic oil development techniques, equipment and configuration of facilities that reduce the surface footprint.  Also, improvements in seismic analytical methods and more powerful computers yield more precise well locations and consequently, reduce the number of wells needed.  Further reducing negative impacts, new advanced forms of drilling, such as extended reach, horizontal, and “designer” wells, permit underground drilling to reach laterally far beyond a drill platform, with the current record being seven miles at one site in China.  Finally, improved ice-based transportation infrastructure serves remote areas during exploratory drilling on newly developed insulated ice pads, thereby leaving little or no evidence of exploration activity once nature causes the ice to melt.

             Again, I believe U.S. energy policy should embrace all avenues to reduce our dependence on oil. In the long term it means developing alternative sources such as hydrogen fuel cell technology, solar and wind technology in combination with conservation.  In the short term, the U.S. must reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil for economic and national security reasons.  Decreasing oil imports will improve the U.S. trade deficit and reduce the need to rely on countries from unstable and often undemocratic regions.  Additionally, every dollar spent on domestically produced oil goes into the American economic machine, creating jobs, growth, and tax generation, which is preferable to having foreign countries reap these benefits.  The significant dependence on foreign sources of oil also produces volatility in the U.S. economy and given the tremendous growth in China and India, America may be increasingly challenged in securing the energy we need in the global marketplace.

             I welcome your input on this issue as I know gas prices are on everyone’s mind. Please take the time to fill out the survey on the left-hand side of this e-newsletter and sign up for future e-newsletters to be sure you receive regular updates on Congress and energy policy.

Sincerely,

KEN CALVERT

Member of Congress