Murkowski is the ranking Republican on the Democratic-controlled committee.

Murkowski and Republican Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho, Craig Thomas of Wyoming and James Inhofe of Oklahoma demanded assurances a bill be offered for debate with sufficient time to consider Republican amendments.

Late this week, Energy Committee chairman Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat, announced a halt to the panel's work on an energy bill. Instead, he said Senate Democrats will bring a comprehensive bill directly to the floor later this year, an unusual way to handle a bill.

Bingaman said leaders felt the bill was infringing the jurisdiction of other committees and time was running out to complete work on it.

A Reuters survey of Energy Committee members last summer indicated the panel would approve drilling in the pristine refuge on Alaska's northern coast.

NOT ENOUGH COMMITTEE VOTES?

Republicans generally want to open the refuge for oil and gas drilling as a way to reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil. President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman, has endorsed opening 1.5 million acres (607,500 hectares) of the refuge's 19 million acres (7.7 million hectares) to exploration.

Democrats oppose it as a short-sighted step that would harm a prize wilderness area and do little for energy independence. The refuge is home to snow geese, caribou and polar bears, and has been described by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as "one of the finest examples of wilderness left on the planet."

Democrats control the Senate, 50-49 with one independent.

"My interpretation: The majority leader recognized he didn't have the votes in committee and he didn't have the votes on the floor," Murkowski said.

Taking the bill from committee will prevent Republicans from influencing its contents.

While Craig and Thomas demanded explicit assurances a bill would be brought to the floor, Inhofe said Democrats now were duty-bound to produce a bill for floor debate.

"This is not an energy issue. This is a national security issue," Inhofe said.

CONGRESS HAS MONTH LEFT

Murkowski said Republicans would have few other opportunities to pursue energy legislation because the Senate calendar would be dominated by spending bills for the next couple of weeks.

Congress aims to adjourn by early November.

"Clearly, if we do not get some certainty from the majority leader, we will seek other alternatives," Murkowski said when asked if Republicans would try to attach their energy package, which includes the Arctic drilling, to other bills.

Democrat Mary Landrieu, an Energy Committee member from the oil-rich state of Louisiana, said she was disappointed that work had been suspended. Action was needed "whether we do that through committee or through a different vehicle," she said.