Gas, oil estimates in US West too high-green group
Date: 31-Oct-02
Country: USA
Author: Christopher Doering
The environmental group, which opposes additional drilling, said federal studies have failed to take into account whether it would be cost effective for energy companies to develop some of the areas that are now protected.
"The administration's national energy plan to open more western public lands to gas and oil drilling is based on inherently flawed assumptions," said Pete Morton, an author of a new Wilderness Society study.
In a 31-page report, the green group said economically recoverable oil reserves in off-limit areas of federal forests in six Rocky Mountain states would produce only a few weeks' worth of energy.
If drilling were allowed, the combined areas would produce enough natural gas to meet U.S. demand for about 11 weeks, and crude oil to satisfy consumption for about 3 weeks.
The U.S. Forest Service is currently considering whether to allow development of some so-called roadless areas.
The administration said last year it would move forward with a Clinton-era plan to ban new roads in 60 million acres (24 million hectares) of forest land, but also would modify the rule to allow local input so changes are made on a forest-by-forest basis.
The rule was opposed by U.S. timber, mining and oil companies, which cannot move in heavy equipment without roads.
A similar situation exists with 15 national monuments managed by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management.
The 15 monuments that now bar drilling contain fewer than 7 days of U.S. natural gas use and 15 days of oil use, the Wilderness Society said.
The Bureau of Land Management is updating many of its land use plans including those in the national monuments. The agency aims to complete plans for 20 "high priority areas" in the next three years.
Celia Boddington, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management, declined to comment on the Wilderness Society study because it had not yet been reviewed by the agency.
She rejected criticism from environmental groups that argue the Bush administration is catering to the interests of oil, gas and coal companies at the expense of the environment.
"There seems to be this perception that by waving a magic wand you can open land to leasing," Boddington said. "We can't do that. Any new leasing has to go through the full planning process which takes several years."
President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman, has called for a significant increase in energy production on public lands to help wean U.S. dependence on foreign oil and to meet future demand for natural gas fuel for power plants.
An estimated 105 trillion cubic feet (TCF) (2.97 trillion cu metres) of natural gas, for example, are located on public lands in the lower 48 states that are currently off limits to drilling. Another 108 TCF (3.06 trillion cu metres) is located in areas that are subject to restrictions, according to the Interior Department.
In a separate study also released by the Wilderness Society, the group said energy development can cause a larger "ecological footprint" that extends beyond the gas or oil field.
It estimated that while roads, retention ponds and pipelines consume seven miles of habitat in the Upper Green River Basin of Wyoming, for example, the entire 166-square-mile (430 sq km) landscape is within one-half mile of the infrastructure.
The report cautioned that the close proximity to oil and gas development would have a significant impact on endangered and threatened species in the area.
