Research:

3- Weekly Objective Question (through 10/22):  What would be the impact on the local and national job market of opening Area 1002 to development?

10/19:
1) Employment and Earnings 2002 (US Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics)
-manufacturing workers:
     -hourly earnings of $13.24 (average), $14.86 (production workers); weekly earnings of $496.50 (average)
     -average earnings of workers in petroleum/coal industry: $21.49
-Alaskan employment:
     -civilian labor force 322.8 thousand
     -unemployment 25.0 thousand (7.7%)
2)Employment and Industrial Relations issues in oil refining (International Labor Office)
-national average (1996) of people employed in refining: 100,200
     -steady decling in number of refining workers: 2.7% annual decrease

2- Weekly Objective Question (through 10/15):  What are the benefits of drilling in ANWR?

10/14: "It's Energy Prices, Stupid" (Money Magazine, Oct. 2003)
Summary:
-Historical norms for energy prices: $20 barrel for crude oil; $2-3 per 1000cf for natural gas
-Current prices: $30 barrel for crude oil ($40/barrel before Iraq war, the highest figure of the past 20 years)
-Estimated future prices: $25-30/barrel for crude oil (higher than historical norms due to a steady decline in new production capabilites)
     -"each $5 increase in crude oil prices trims about 0.3% ($32 billion) from GDP"
     -"each additional penny per gallon Americans pay at the pump dampens other forms of consumer spending by $1 billion"
-OPEC effectively has control over the world oil market because non-OPEC nations are already operating at full capcity.
Analysis: The U.S. will continue to face higher oil prices in the future.  The higher cost can be beared,  exploration and development of existing or new domestic oil sources increased, or a shift to reliance on other products begun.

10/10:
1) "Study benchmarks 2001 drilling, completion costs for 400 South Texas gas wells" (Oil and Gas Journal, Dec. 9, 2002)
-average drilling costs for wells (normal pressure wells <10,000ft deep)  in South Texas: $71/ft - $200/ft
- of the combined $1 billion spent to operate the wells, ~7/10ths were drilling costs, and the other 3/10ths were completion costs
2) "ANWR development arguements and their limitations" (Oil and Gas Journal, May 5, 2003):
-potential jobs from the development of Area 1002:
     -up to 25,000 new jobs in Alaska; 50,000-730,000 new jobs in the US (including Alaskan jobs) to process and distribute the oil/gas
     -US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated 3.89 jobs required for every $1million of sales by petroleum producers + 16.53 jobs for every $1 million sales by oil-gas service companies
          -2.4 billion barrels potential recovery = development costs of 6.5 billion = 60,000 resulting jobs
-impact on import balance:
     -with peak production, "1002 Area might be able to offset aout 10% of all imports for a few years"

1-Weekly Objective Question (through 10/8):  What is the configuration of the past and current oil market?

10/5: "IEA: World Energy demand to grow briskly to 2030" (Oil and Gas Journal, Oct. 14, 2002)
Summary: The World Energy Outlook publication produced by the International energy Agency predicts energy demand will grow by 1.7% per year through 2030, with the majority of the increased demand resulting from transportation needs.  Natural gas, which is predicted to incure the largest increase in consumption worldwide, will need to be imorted into North America by 2030 in order to keep pace with demand.

9/28: 4 articles from the Petroleum Economist (found in the Dewey journal collection):
1) "Supply Crisis Looms"
Summary: Natural gas storage levels in the U.S. are at the lowest they have ever been.  The current situation is due to the fact that just 5 percent of the world’s supply of natural gas is in the U.S., but 31 percent of the world output also comes from the U.S.  Unfortunately, demand for natural gas is only on the rise, predicted to increase from 24 trillion cf in 2002 to 32 trillion cf in 2020.  Although some are arguing that Alaska’s North Slope should be exploited to increase production, it is unlikely to be able to increase the supply in the near future.  There are also political questions surrounding development on the North Slope, as the companies planning on investing in the area and building the 20 billion dollar required pipeline want the government to affix a price floor of $3.25/m Btu to any gas extracted and sold from the North Slope.
2) “A respectable position”
Summary: In 2000, the possibility of exploiting natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope was seized upon by numerous companies.  At the start, BP Amoco was the front runner for extracting the 130 trillion cubic feet (cf) believed to be on the North Slope (only 30 trillion cf has been actually discovered).  Their most likely plan for transporting the oil was to run a pipeline down to the lower 48 states.  At first, BP was unsure of whether the demand in the lower 48 states was high enough to justify their multi-billion dollar investment.  After developing plans for a plant that would reduce standard costs by 20 percent using gas- to-liquids technology, though, they foresee commercialization of the gas within 2005-2010.
    However, Alaskan Representative Gail Phillips has spoken out against any plan to invade the environmental purity of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
3) "Regional variations mean feast or famine"
Summary: As consumption has increased in the wake of economic prosperity and OPEC has cut crude oil production, gasoline inventories are at their lowest level in a decade.  The low energy prices have also cut back the funds available for exploration and development.  Unfortunately, U.S. refineries are already operating at 96 percent capacity, so domestic production can not be increased much further. 
4) "Markets: tight stocks, slow Iraqi revival drive markets"
Summary: Although oil prices have remained fairly constant over the long run, prices have been relatively high for the past four years.  They currently remain high because of high demand in the U.S. and because of supply disruption fears in Iraq, Nigeria, and Venezuela.  Inventories are low this year, down 11 percent from last year.

9/22: Energy Information Administration/Petroleum Supply Monthly, September 2003:  
Statistical tables: For the year 2002 the U.S. imported 11,530 b/d while exporting 984 b/d.  Since 1988, exports have remained fairly stable, but yearly import figures have steadily increased by roughly 300b/d. 
My Analysis: With domestic oil production near full capacity and consumption figures continuing to rise, American reliance on foreign sources of oil has increased.  Less oil self-sufficiency in turn leads to foreign policy decisions tainted by the necessity to secure ample energy sources for domestic consumption.