Energy issues to be mulled

WASILLA -- U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham recently named state Sen. Scott Ogan as the Energy Council's representative to the National Petroleum Council.

The National Petroleum Council is a federally chartered and privately funded advisory committee established in 1946 at the request of President Harry S. Truman. In 1977, the U.S. Department of Energy was established and the NPC's functions were transferred to that new department.

The sole purpose of the NPC is to represent the views of the oil and natural- gas industries in advising the Energy secretary about any matter related to oil and natural gas or to the oil and gas industries. The NPC does not concern itself with trade practices.

The Energy Council, which Ogan currently chairs, is a legislative organization comprised of 10 member states and four international affiliates drawn from the major energy-producing regions of the U.S., Canada and Venezuela, according to the organization's newsletter. It provides a forum for discussing government policies regarding energy and the environment, the newsletter stated.

Having recently returned from an NPC meeting in Washington, D.C., Ogan, R-Mat-Su, said natural gas and the need for new refineries are two energy topics on policy makers' lips across the nation.

In Alaska, the need for natural gas continues to be a matter of discussion, Ogan said, and he hopes Alaska can play a role in new natural-gas developments -- both locally and nationally.

"Natural gas is the future of energy in America," Ogan said. "In the next 20-30 years, all the focus will be on natural gas and gas hydrates."

After being a member of the Energy Council for eight years, Ogan was appointed as its chairman in September. At the time he was appointed, he said the chairmanship would give him the opportunity to set the agenda for the council meetings, and may allow Alaska-centered topics such as the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and a natural- gas pipeline to be part of Energy Council discussions.

"It's ongoing education for legislators," Ogan said. "Energy Council is one of the reasons I've been as successful as I have been in the last eight years. They … hear from the world's best energy experts."

Although no specific legislation has been developed as a result of Alaska legislators' membership in the Energy Council, Ogan said information gleaned from the meetings has contributed to Alaska legislation.

Alaska's membership in the council will benefit the state in another way in September, when council members from around the United States and other oil-producing countries from the Western Hemisphere convene in Anchorage.

At that meeting, Ogan said, the council will devote the afternoon to discussing the need for new refineries. Placing new refineries is a difficult issue, politically and otherwise, but Ogan said he believes the U.S. and other nations may be facing an energy crisis if new refineries or methods of refining are not found.

Many of the refineries in existence, Ogan said, are nearing the end of their life span, and getting proper permitting to build a new refinery is difficult. It's a similar dilemma to developing natural-gas resources, Ogan said.

"Nobody wants it in their back yard, and I understand that," Ogan said. "But America, as a whole, needs that gas -- and sometimes for the common good of society, some people have to pay the price for it."

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.