Dear Representative Hastings,

On behalf of more than 1.7 million Americans for Prosperity activists in all 50 states, I applaud your recent introduction of H.R. 2150, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Act. Your bill would help to open up the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) to further oil and natural gas resource development. Not only would increased domestic supplies of energy resources bring much-needed relief to American consumers facing skyrocketing energy prices, it would also help solve a serious problem looming on the horizon for the State of Alaska.

As you know, the Wall Street Journal reported in May that oil flow through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) has dwindled to levels so low that it may need to be shut down entirely. TAPS currently conveys crude oil over 800 miles from the oil-rich North Slope region in northern Alaska to the port of Valdez in southern Alaska, where it is then shipped to markets in the U.S. and around the world. The pipeline reached its peak in 1988 when it carried over 2 million barrels of oil per day from oil fields to port, but as North Slope oil production has diminished, so has the flow through the pipeline; this year only about 600,000 barrels of oil travel through its tubes on an average day, falling below 30 percent of full capacity.

As the flow rate slows the risk grows that oil will literally freeze while in transit, causing serious problems like ruptures and spills. The company that runs TAPS warns that if current trends continue, ice crystals may begin to form in the oil flows as soon as 2013, forcing them to shut down pump houses. Under the pipeline’s lease contracts, if the pipeline is shut off it must be dismantled entirely – with plenty of environmental groups ready and waiting to litigate to enforce those provisions. The nearly 2,000 employees operating and servicing the pipeline would immediately be out of a job.

One solution is obvious: add more oil. NPR-A was explicitly set aside by the federal government in 1923 as an important resource, but it has yet to be developed to its full potential. While estimates have varied widely, the most recent report from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that right now there are 500 million barrels of “economically recoverable” oil available in the NPR-A at prevailing prices. That’s hundreds of millions of barrels of oil available to increase domestic supply, drive down fuel prices at the pump, and save the TAPS from demise.

Even President Obama is on board with conducting annual lease sales to get drilling going in NPR-A, as he announced in his May 14 weekly address. But your bill goes further, ensuring that regulatory burdens and permitting delays do not stand in the way, removing another big roadblock currently impeding NPR-A development. In addition to making it a legal requirement to conduct annual lease sales in the region, your bill would streamline the permitting process, set strict timelines for processing permitting requests, and require the Department of the Interior to plan ahead for future infrastructure development in the area.

Drilling in NPR-A can be done in a safe and environmentally-sound manner, to the benefit of all Americans. It’s time to start. Americans for Prosperity is proud to support H.R. 2150, the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska Act, along with similar measures to increase domestic production of the nation’s wealth of natural resources. I urge your colleagues to support its passage, and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Sincerely,

James Valvo
Director of Government Affairs
Americans for Prosperity

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