Hearing addresses offshore energy reserves for Alaska

An Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing conducted last week examined Alaska offshore energy reserves as well as federal revenues received from energy development as well as programs that share those revenues with state, local, and tribal governments.

The hearing, chaired by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), also received testimony on two related energy bills.

Officials said Sen. Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) Conservation of America’s Shoreline Terrain and Aquatic Life (COASTAL) Act and Sen. Martha McSally’s (R-AZ) Public Land Renewable Energy Development Act (PLREDA) would prove beneficial to offshore energy reserve enhancement efforts.

“Congress laid the foundation for offshore revenue sharing through the passage of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA) back in 2006,” Murkowski said. “At that time, the bill did not include Alaska. The COASTAL Act that we are considering now would establish a revenue sharing program that would include Alaska Offshore revenue sharing is a matter of simple fairness. The Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and Cook Inlet are American waters by virtue of Alaska and Alaska alone. We build the infrastructure and provide the public services that are needed for responsible development, but we also bear the impacts. Those who shoulder much of that burden, it is only right that they should share in a greater opportunity for the benefit.”

Mayor Harry Brower of the North Slope Borough served as a hearing witness.

“The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act provides for revenue sharing from offshore oil and gas development,” Brower said. “It would be unconscionable to oppose legislation that would extend offshore oil and gas revenue sharing to Alaska and provide a fair share of revenue from the development of Arctic resources to impacted coastal communities.”