Supporters of the bill say that opening up 1.5 million of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's 19 million acres to oil drilling would help resolve America's energy problems, boost Alaska's economy and reduce the nation's dependence on overseas oil. Oil wells would ruin the nation's most pristine wildlife preserve View Results Pumping more oil out of Alaska, Murkowski says, will lessen U.S. dependence on overseas oil, lower gas prices, give the nation more ammunition to solve energy problems and let the U.S. reap the benefits of oil production and sales. And we cannot use our coming energy challenges as justification for an all-out assault on the environment. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is located in the northeast corner of Alaska When Congress approved the increased size as part of the Alaskan Lands Bill, it set aside 8 percent of the refuge, along the Alaskan coast, to be examined for its petroleum potential. Still, oil drilling could only occur in the area with congressional approval.
Nobody's sure how much oil is under the refuge.
A 1998 U.S. Geological Survey estimated the area could yield between 3 and 16 billion barrels of oil. The Survey has said that, at current oil prices, about 6 billion barrels would be worth pumping out. That's roughly enough to supply all U.S. oil needs for about 11 months. The accident was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Murkowski said that the oil industry and environmental officials have learned a great deal since the Exxon Valdez accident.