Study Downplays Alaska Refuge's Impact

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON - Opening an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil development would only slightly reduce America's dependence on imports and would lower oil prices by less than 50 cents a barrel, said an Energy Department analysis released Tuesday.

The report by the Energy Information Administration said that if Congress gave the go-ahead to pump oil from Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the crude could begin flowing by 2013 and reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day by 2025.

But even at peak production, said the EIA analysis, the United States would still have to import two-thirds of its oil, as opposed to an expected 70 percent if the refuge's oil remains off the market.

At the same time, the report said that new Alaska production would stem the expected dramatic decline in domestic production and extend the economic life of the Alaska oil pipeline as production from other North Slope areas declines significantly.

But even the additional domestic production would not be enough to overcome increased demand, meaning continued heavy reliance on imports, said the EIA. Currently the United States imports about 56 percent of the oil it consumes.
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