Washington (Platts)--1May2008

US Indian tribes want to develop oil, gas and other natural resources on
their lands, but federal agency delays are impeding the process, tribal
leaders said Thursday.

Administrative and bureaucratic delays have "stymied oil and gas
development" and held up air permits for power plants, tribal leaders told
members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. This has made it harder for
the tribes to be taken seriously as good business partners, they said.

Tribal leaders said they believed that Title V of the Energy Policy Act
of 2005 would aid them in developing natural resources on their reservations.

Title V allows tribes, through an approved Tribal Energy Resource
Agreement, to review and approve leases, business agreements and rights-of-way
for specific energy development activities on their lands. Prior to this,
tribes first had to seek approval from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

But according to tribal leaders at Thursday's hearing, the BIA, which
still has to approve some steps of the process, and other federal agencies are
dragging their feet. Staff cuts at the BIA have caused part of the problem,
tribal leaders said.

"Our success or failure in developing our energy resources lies almost
completely in the hands of the Bureau of Indian Affairs," said Marcus Wells,
chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Indian
Reservation.

The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota lies within the
Bakken Formation, an area that contains 3.65 billion barrels of oil; 1.85 Tcf
of associated/natural gas; and 148 million barrels of natural gas liquids,
according to US Geological Survey estimates.

Robert Middleton, director of the Office of Indian Energy and Economic
Development at the Department of Interior, which includes the BIA, told the
hearing that federal agencies are "open to be as flexible as we can to turn
over management to the tribes." However, Interior needs to retain some aspects
of the decision making process, he said.

Committee Chair Byron Dorgan, Democrat-North Dakota, said that the roles
of federal agencies in developing energy-related natural resources on tribal
lands need to be clarified.

Dorgan said he wants to have discussions with the tribes and his staff to
see what more can be done to alleviate the problems discussed at the hearing.

"The BIA does not have a great reputation for success," Dorgan said. "I
want to have our staff work closely with you because we need to fix the
problem."

--Regina Johnson, regina_johnson@platts.com