Alaska Congressman Nick Begich told the state's oil and gas industry leaders that the state is on the verge of great resource development.
“The bottom line is simple: Alaska is back. The oil and gas Renaissance is real and the time is now," he said Wednesday, at the annual Alaska Oil and Gas Association conference. "So let's keep drilling. Let's keep building. Let's keep investing."
Under a banner that read "People. Pride. Petroleum.," Begich cited the Trump administration’s eagerness for Alaska drilling and mining projects, and the reconciliation bill Congress passed in July. It mandates oil and gas lease sales in the Arctic and Cook Inlet. Begich also touted new rules to speed up permitting and environmental reviews.
Earlier in the day, Begich was at Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s side as he signed an agreement with the new head of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, Emily Domenech. Dunleavy said she was a "permitting czar" who he believes can cut red tape and streamline the process.
"There was a day, there was a time, many, many years ago, that if you wanted to build something, you build it. Here in Alaska! Do you want to blow it up? You blew it up," Dunleavy said. "If you want to use a Cat on a side of a mountain, you can still see the Cat trails. As a matter of fact, I was just four-wheeling on a couple of them here this weekend. Times have changed."
Dunleavy said he understands there has to be more attention on the environment these days, but he said the review process takes so long that it discourages investment and projects can’t get off the ground.
Sometimes, though, it’s the investment piece that’s missing. The largest development on the governor’s wishlist, the Alaska LNG project, has virtually all of its federal permits but still needs billions of dollars to launch.
And no oil companies offered bids when the Trump and Biden administrations offered lease sales in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Congressman Begich, addressing the oil and gas industry, suggested a solution to that.
"I encourage everyone in this room — whether it's ANWR, Cook Inlet or NPR-A —please bid," Begich said. "Bid high. Bid often. We want that developed.”
If permitting takes a long time, so does reforming the process. The federal permitting council Dunleavy has faith in was created during the Obama administration, a decade ago.
