Rocky article on Lamborn uncritically asserted offshore and ANWR drilling would "bring[] down gas prices

Summary: The Rocky Mountain News uncritically reported that the next item on Rep. Doug Lamborn's "to-do list" is "[b]ringing down gas prices by increasing off-shore drilling and drilling in the Alaskan [sic] National Wildlife Refuge." The News failed to mention that Energy Department researchers have concluded that such oil exploration would not yield any benefit for many years.

Echoing a misleading assertion made by President Bush in June and repeated by other Republicans since, the Rocky Mountain News uncritically reported in a July 23 article that the next item on the "to-do list" for U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) is "[b]ringing down gas prices by increasing off-shore drilling and drilling in the Alaskan [sic] National Wildlife Refuge." The News failed to mention that Energy Department researchers have concluded that such oil exploration would not yield any benefit for many years, as Media Matters for America has noted. Indeed, in its May 2008 Analysis of Crude Oil Production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) concluded that oil drilling in ANWR would not impact the U.S. oil supply for at least a decade: "The opening of the ANWR 1002 Area to oil and natural gas development is projected to increase domestic crude oil production starting in 2018 [emphasis added]."

Moreover, in its Annual Energy Outlook for 2007, which considered the likely effects of allowing the congressional and executive moratoriums on certain offshore drilling to expire in 2012, the EIA stated: "The projections in the [Outer Continental Shelf] OCS access case indicate that access to the Pacific, Atlantic, and eastern Gulf regions would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030. Leasing would begin no sooner than 2012, and production would not be expected to start before 2017."

Media Matters noted that despite federal researchers' findings that challenge Bush's claims, MSNBC Live anchor Contessa Brewer on June 9 uncritically broadcast his assertion that drilling for oil in ANWR and offshore would "tak[e] pressure off gasoline for our hardworking Americans."

From the July 23 Rocky Mountain News article by Ed Sealover, "Doug Lamborn focuses on congressional work ":

Just 3 1/2 weeks before the primary election, Congressman Doug Lamborn spent much of his Friday at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a congressional fact-finding trip rather than raising money or votes.

The day epitomizes the way the first-term Republican is approaching the three-man GOP primary that will determine his political future.

As his two opponents continue to jab at Lamborn and try to engage him in discussion, he has focused on his job, concentrating on trying to build influence and cast conservative votes.

Opponents accuse Lamborn -- who two years ago won a six-way primary for an open seat by 892 votes -- of ducking the issues. They say he lacks leadership or accomplishments in Congress.

The 54-year-old former state legislator responds by noting that he has yet to find policy differences between himself, businessman Jeff Crank and retired military officer Bentley Rayburn. Debates can only turn personal at this point, he said, and he is trying to keep a low profile so that the race does not become a series of personal attacks and so that the party can come back together after the primary.

[...]

Despite criticisms of overspending on constituent mailers -- he's spent more than any other House member from Colorado -- Lamborn maintains he is a true fiscal conservative.

He points to endorsements from groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Club for Growth to back him on this claim.

Next on his to-do list: Bringing down gas prices by increasing off-shore drilling and drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.

In assessing the impact of hypothetical legislation that would allow drilling in ANWR, the EIA "assumes that enactment of the legislation in 2008 would result in first production from the ANWR area in 10 years." The EIA stated, "The primary constraints to a rapid development of ANWR oil resources are the limited weather 'windows' for collecting seismic data and drilling wells (a 3-to-4 month winter window) and for ocean barging of heavy infrastructure equipment to the well site (a 2-to-3 month summer window)." The EIA continued:

The assumption that ANWR oil production would begin 10 years after legislation approves the Federal oil and natural gas leasing in the 1002 Area is based on the following 8-to-12 year timeline:

• 2 to 3 years to obtain leases, including the development of a U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) leasing program, which includes approval of an Environmental Impact Statement, the collection and analysis of seismic data, and the auction and award of leases.
• 2 to 3 years to drill a single exploratory well. Exploratory wells are slower to drill because geophysical data are collected during drilling, e.g., rock cores and well logs. Typically, Alaska North Slope exploration wells take two full winter seasons to reach the desired depth.
• 1 to 2 years to develop a production development plan and obtain BLM approval for that plan, if a commercial oil reservoir is discovered. Considerably more time could be required if the discovered oil reservoir is very deep, is filled with heavy oil, or is highly faulted. The petroleum company might have to collect more seismic data or drill delineation wells to confirm that the deposit is commercial.
• 3 to 4 years to construct the feeder pipelines; to fabricate oil separation and treatment plants, and transport them up from the lower-48 States to the North Slope by ocean barge; construct drilling pads; drill to depth; and complete the wells.
• The 10-year timeline for developing ANWR petroleum resources assumes that there is no protracted legal battle in approving the BLM's draft Environmental Impact Statement, the BLM's approval to collect seismic data, or the BLM's approval of a specific lease-development proposal.

Further, in assessing the likely impact of drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf area if the congressional and executive moratoriums on certain offshore drilling were to expire in 2012, the EIA stated that "despite the increase in production from previously restricted areas after 2012, total natural gas production from the lower 48 OCS is projected generally to decline after 2020." The EIA continued: "Although a significant volume of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and natural gas resources is added in the OCS access case, conversion of those resources to production would require both time and money. In addition, the average field size in the Pacific and Atlantic regions tends to be smaller than the average in the Gulf of Mexico, implying that a significant portion of the additional resource would not be economically attractive to develop at the reference case prices."

—E.B.