House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) today released the following statement after the Department of the Interior finalized plans to lock up the majority of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) from energy production. 

“As gasoline prices continue to increase for the 34th day in a row, the Obama Administration has responded by locking up a majority of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which Congress specifically established for oil and natural gas production,” said Chairman Hastings. “Only in President Obama’s backwards worldview of anti-energy policies does it make sense to prohibit energy production in a place specifically set aside for energy production at a time when gasoline prices are skyrocketing and federal oil and natural gas production is declining.”

According to conservative estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey, there are over 2.7 billion barrels of oil and 114.36 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the NPR-A. Last Congress, the Natural Resources Committee passed bipartisan legislation to create jobs, expand energy production and lower energy costs by ensuring that oil and natural gas resources in the NPR-A are developed and transported in a timely, efficient manner.