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In a latest attempt to allow the drilling of oil and gas resources in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, the Trump administration announced on Monday that it will begin the formal concession process in favor of oil companies, according to the New York Times.
This procedure foresees a potential concession shortly before January 20, the day of the inauguration of the new president. Joe Biden, who opposed drilling in the shelter, would try to stop the companies.
“The Trump administration is trying desperately. They know what they have started is hasty and legally questionable,” said Jenny Rowland-Shea, senior political analyst at the Center for American Progress, a liberal group in Washington.
The federal registry demanded on Monday that an “application form” from the Land Management Office be officially published on Tuesday, in order to ensure more than 6,000 square kilometers of shelter along the Arctic Ocean coast. The application form is practically a request to the oil companies to specify which land areas they would be interested in exploring and possibly drilling for oil and gas.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said the move was welcome. In a statement, the organization said housing development is “long overdue and will create well-paying jobs and provide a new source of income for the state – a fact that most of Alaska’s population supports.” .
The application request will allow 30 days for comments, after which the office, part of the Department of the Interior, will be able to issue a final notice that sales will take place 30 days later. This means that sales could happen a few days before the opening day.
Normally, the office will allocate time to review comments and determine which areas it will sell before issuing final sale information, a process that can take several months. However, in this case, the office may decide to provide the whole area and release the information immediately.
Any concessions would then be subject to scrutiny by Biden agencies, including the office and the Department of Justice, a process that could take another month or two. This could allow the White House administration to refuse to issue concessions, perhaps arguing that the scientific basis of the plan to allow drilling into the shelter is wrong, as environmental groups have argued.
At stake is the future of the refuge, one of the most remote and pristine parts of the United States, home to migrating polar bears and reindeer, among other wildlife. In 2017, nullifying decades of protection, the Trump administration and the Republican majority Congress opened the coastal field of refuge for possible oil and gas developments.
Expectations are that the ground is above geological formations that could contain billions of barrels of oil, although this assessment is based on data collected in the 1980s. A single exploration well was dug in the shelter and a New York Times investigation found the results disappointing.
If the concessions started, it is unclear how much interest they would attract from oil companies for drilling the shelters. It will take at least a decade before crude oil is produced in that area, and until then the movement to reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels will reduce their need. Producing oil in the Arctic is difficult and expensive, and companies will likely decide it’s not worth the financial effort. They may be concerned about the potential impact on their reputation if they dig in such a place.
Publisher: Alexandru Costea
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