DOE’s Petroleum Council Dead Wrong on Arctic Drilling

WASHINGTON (March 27,2015) - The National Petroleum Council, the largely industry-based oil and gas advisory committee to the Department of Energy, released a study Friday predicting the twilight of oil production through fracking and calling for drilling in the Arctic Ocean to compensate for depleting onshore reserves of oil.

Niel Lawrence, senior attorney and Alaska director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, made the following statement:

“This puts an end to the myth that a relentless rush to fracking can overturn the laws of supply and demand. The answer, though, is not to risk a BP-style blowout in Arctic waters where we can’t prevent, contain or clean up a catastrophic oil spill. We need, instead, to break our dependence on the fossil fuel use that is putting our natural systems at risk and driving the dangerous climate change that threatens our future.”