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Size of ANWR relative to U.S. states: ANWR - 19.0 million acres ANWR area permanently closed - 17.5 million West Virginia - 15.5 Maryland - 6.6 New Hampshire - 5.9 New Jersey - 4.9 Connecticut - 3.2 Area proposed for exploration - 1.5 million .
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Size of ANWR relative to U.S. states: • ANWR - 19.0 million acres • ANWR area permanently closed - 17.5 million • West Virginia - 15.5 • Maryland - 6.6 • New Hampshire - 5.9 • New Jersey - 4.9 • Connecticut - 3.2 • Area proposed for exploration - 1.5 million
ANWR is America's Best Chance for a Major Discovery • The Coastal Plain of ANWR is America's best possibility for the discovery of another "Prudhoe Bay-sized" oil and gas field in North America. • U.S. Department of Interior estimates range from 5.7 to 16 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Prudhoe Bay, the center of oil activity on the North Slope • Since production began in 1977, Alaskan oil has provided 20 to 25 percent of the country’s total supply. • looks like more than 12 billion barrels will be recovered before the wells are shut down,
Imported Oil too Costly • The U.S. imports over 53% of the nation's needed petroleum. • Oil imports cost the U.S. more than $55.1 billion a year, and accounts for over 50% of the U.S. trade deficit. • These figures are rising and could exceed 65% by the year 2005.
Arctic Technology • Advanced technology has greatly reduced the “footprint" of Arctic oil development. • If Prudhoe Bay were built today, the footprint would be 64% smaller.
Arctic Technology • Directional drilling has a 4-mile reach • Well pad size • Winter construction - ice roads
Oil Development in ANWR: Ecological Impacts • The coastal plain is the biological heart of a huge arctic/subarctic ecosystem, harm to wildlife there would be expected to reverberate throughout the ecosystem.
Oil Development in ANWR: Ecological Impacts • Concentrated in the refuge’s most critical and sensitive areas such as calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd and denning areas for one of America’s two polar bear populations.
Caribou Herd • A small group of the 130,000 Porcupine caribou herd moves across the tundra in the annual spring migration. Most cows give birth on the coastal plain, where food is plentiful and predators few.
Polar Bears • The 1.5 million-acre coastal plain, where the oil is thought to be located, is also prime habitat for Beaufort Sea polar bears.
Inevitability of Oil Spills • North Slope industry average of 400 spills (1995 to 2001) • Total of nearly 1.5 million gallons of diesel, crude, and hydraulic oil, as well as other substances. • (Alaska DEC)
Impact of Spills • Oil and other chemical spills accumulate in areas such as air holes used by seals and other marine mammals
Oil Development in ANWR: Ecological Impacts Migrating bird species visit the refuge in anticipation of a short, uninterrupted burst of food resources to feed themselves and develop their young prior to migration, disturbances of any duration could have population-wide impacts.
No Negative Impact on Animals • Oil development and wildlife are successfully coexisting in Alaska's Arctic. • The Central Arctic Caribou Herd has grown from 3,000 when development began at Prudhoe Bay to as high as 23,400.
No Negative Impact on Animals • In 1997, the Central Arctic Caribou Herd size was estimated to be 19,500. • The Central Arctic Caribou Herd calve among the Prudhoe Bay facilities.
Other wildlife in the Arctic • Rock and Willow Ptarmigan, ducks, geese, shore birds, jaegers, gulls, terns, and songbirds flourish in the Arctic. • Bears, wolves, muskoxen, and moose coexist healthily with development.
Local Residents - Coastal • Most residents in the tiny Inupiat village of Kaktovik, the only community within the refuge, support energy exploration. • For the native people of Kaktovik, there are scant work opportunities. Oil exploration would bring badly needed income, jobs, and social services
Offshore Oil Development • The Alaska Department of Natural Resources is considering allowing offshore oil and gas development adjacent to ANWR. • The Inupiat people from Kaktovik are opposed to off-shore drilling.
