Washington (Platts)--21Jul2008

The US House of Representatives' top Republican, leading a group of House
Republicans touring Alaska oil and natural gas facilities Monday, insisted the
contested Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could be developed in an
environmentally-sensitive manner.

Representative John Boehner, the House minority leader, argued that
opening up ANWR could be done without harm to its fragile environment. "It is
possible for energy production and wildlife protection to co-exist in the
region," he wrote in an Internet blog of the trip by the 11 lawmakers.

For example, the Ohio Republican noted that a local caribou herd has
increased in size from 5,000 to 30,000 animals since oil production began in
BP's Alaska North Slope Prudhoe Bay field in the 1970s.

In addition to taking a flyover tour of ANWR, which Republicans have long
wanted to open up to energy development, the delegation also took flew over
the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, where a major lease sale is slated for
this fall, and toured BP's Endicott Production Facility at Prudhoe Bay.

Back in Washington, the Republicans' Alaska efforts may be viewed with
skepticism, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, over the
weekend made it clear that she would not entertain any Republican efforts to
allow drilling in ANWR or other closed areas of the Outer Continental Shelf.

Instead, Pelosi, who is from California, chided Boehner and the other
Republicans on the tour for voting against a host of energy bills that House
Democrats recently brought to the floor.

Republicans, however, want Pelosi to allow a vote on their so-called "all
of the above" energy bill, which would promote conservation and energy
efficiency, as well as increased domestic drilling.

--Christina Burton, christina_burton@platts.com