2.6 Million Acres in Alaska Opened to Drilling But Wetlands Are Spared

The U.S. Department of the Interior has opened 2.6 million acres of northern Alaska to oil exploration, while deferring for ten years any decision to open the wetlands north of Teshekpuk Lake, where migrating caribou and waterfowl live in summers. An estimated 3.7 billion barrels of oil could flow from the newly opened northeast section of the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve, a federal official said, with the first oil production coming between 2010 and 2012. The increased oil flow will help keep the Alaskan oil pipeline running, while increasing the supply of domestic oil. The 3.7 billion barrels will equal about a quarter of the oil produced from North America’s largest oil field in Prudhoe Bay over the last 31 years. The head of Audubon Alaska applauded the decision to leave the Teshekpuk Lake wetlands untouched for the moment, while expressing hope that the area would be permanently protected.