The FTC says the merger violates antitrust laws. A former Oklahoma oilman, Knowles enthusiastically supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a fragile landscape that's critical to the Porcupine caribou herd. Congress banned drilling in the refuge in 1980, but that law could be changed. Nevertheless, offshore waters owned by the state may be fair game. Alaska plans to lease drilling rights in those waters later this year, even though the risks to the environment may be far greater than at Northstar.
Further litigation is likely.
An offshore platform known as Liberty is in the planning stages, and a draft environmental impact statement is due in Summer 2000. Located 20 miles from Prudhoe Bay, it would produce 120 million barrels total. Several others, including Kuvlum, Hammerhead and Sandpiper, are also possible. The Minerals Management Service, an agency of the Interior Department, is prepared to sell more leases in nearshore waters along the entire Beaufort Sea, possibly also including some sites off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, despite strong concern of threats to caribou, polar bears, bowhead whales and other marine and land species. An explosion ripped through a building at Prudhoe Bay in October 1998, causing a small spill and a fire.