This is a specious argument that assumes that supply from all other sources ceases during the life of the ANWR reserves. According to government studies, the 2001 area of ANWR, could produce over 1.0 MMBO per day. Like the Prudhoe Bay area, production operations will likely run for more than 25 years, providing vital crude oil and natural gas for the nation's economy, significant employment in Alaska and in the Lower 48 from production operations and equipment supply, hundreds of millions of dollars of annual state and federal tax and royalty income, as well as a reduction in the outflow of funds for the purchase of imported crude oil. The giant Alaskan Prudhoe Field went into production in 1977, and produced its 10 billionth barrel of crude oil in May 2000. The field reached a regulated peak of 1.5 million barrels per day in 1979, and produced at this rate through 1988.
Production is now in a steep decline.