Only the 1.5 million acre 1002 Area (8% of ANWR’s total area) is being considered for exploration.  The remaining 17.5 million acres of ANWR is permanently off limits to any exploration.  If oil is discovered, current legislation only allows 2,000 acres of the 1002 Area to be used for surface structures.  That’s one ten-thousandth of ANWR’s total area that could be impacted by an oil field.

According to the House Committee on Natural Resources, developing the 1002 Area of ANWR would generate approximately $150 billion to $296 billion in new federal revenue – a substantial amount that would help alleviate our nation’s growing debt. Total government revenue, including leases, royalties, and state, local and federal taxes for the life of ANWR field production could be as much as $440 billion.

Opening a small portion of ANWR to energy production would create tens of thousands of American jobs and contribute to significant economic growth. Studies have shown ANWR job creation ranging from 55,000 to 130,000 jobs.

Almost all products and infrastructure used in Arctic oil field production come from the lower 48 states. Exploration and development at ANWR would plow billions of dollars into the United States economy for decades, positively impacting every state in the country.

The United States Geological Survey 1998 study on ANWR shows the 1002 Area has the highest potential for a super-large oil field of any other place on the continent.  If you are going to explore for oil, the best chance to find it, in the largest quantity, with the smallest footprint would be the 1002 Area of ANWR.

Prudhoe Bay oil fields 60 miles to the west of ANWR are in decline. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which transports North Slope oil south to Valdez and supplies the West Coast, has seen its throughput drop 39 percent over the last decade and is only one-third full today. Without new oil, the pipeline will be shut down and removed by law, thus stranding all remaining Arctic oil assets. TAPS has the capacity to supply 10 percent of the nation’s daily consumption of oil.

Oil imports cost America $144 billion in 2016, or $395 million every day, and are the fourth largest contributor to our national debt. Every barrel of oil produced at home replaces one that needs to be bought from abroad, decreasing our debt and the outflow of money from our treasury. With ANWR oil the jobs, the money and the infrastructure stay at home.

Resource development and native wildlife are successfully coexisting in Alaska’s Arctic. The Central Arctic Caribou Herd migrates directly through the Prudhoe Bay oil fields 60 miles west of ANWR, and it continues to flourish after 40 years of oil and gas production there. The Arctic oil fields are monitored daily by state and federal wildlife specialists and are also home to healthy bear, fox, musk oxen, bird and fish populations. Science has demonstrated that development can be done without adverse effects on resident wildlife.

Arctic exploration technology is the most advanced in the world and represents the cutting edge in minimal impact with maximum return. Multi-lateral wells, directional drilling and extended reach wells are just a few of the advanced drilling technologies that have resulted in increased production, minimum environmental impact and significantly smaller land footprints.