With the political season upon us, once again we are hearing the slogan of “energy independence” and “less dependence” on foreign oil by our candidates. To them and their party loyalists, this means more production.
Let’s go to the scorecard. Oil and natural gas resources are owned by the state or federal governments. The oil companies lease land to drill. If they find oil or gas, and if they feel that it is economically profitable they will produce the resource, if not, they won’t. Once production begins, the oil and gas belong to them and they can sell it or hold it in the ground as they see fit; the state or federal governments have no control over the resource once it is on the surface.
The multinational companies manage the resource based on their complex international strategies and not on the concept of national security or energy independence, only the highest profit margin. Without significant lease stipulations requiring local refining and sale, or Nixon-era price controls, the multinationals will continue to conduct business in their — not the state’s — best interests.
Currently, ConocoPhillips and Hilcorp have more than 2 million undeveloped acres of land in Alaska, and election slogans cannot force oil companies to develop them. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, Nick Begich and Sarah Palin can say what they want and their voters will agree with them, but the politicians do not have any idea how to turn slogans into a workable development plan.
— Steven Russell
Nikiski
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