Oil companies have long wanted to drill in the Arctic Refuge and conservationists have been just as determined to keep them out. With President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, both former oil industry executives, in the White House and energy issues on the front page, Murkowski proposes opening the refuge for oil exploration. Arctic oil drilling Former President Jimmy Carter said this is the same kind of decision he faced during his time in office when the Alaska Lands Bill was passed in 1980.
Nobody's sure exactly how much oil is under the refuge.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that, at current oil prices, about six billion barrels would be worth pumping out. That's roughly enough to supply all U.S. oil needs for about 11 months. That's where the oil is. The section targeted for drilling houses caribou calving grounds and habitat for polar bears, musk oxen and migratory birds. Congress set up the giant Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, about the size of South Carolina, in 1980.