Should the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska be Opened for Oil Exploration?

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
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Introduction
Disputes over the Alaskan Wildlife Reserve have gone on for decades now. Recently, the Republican Congress proposed that the ANWR reserve be explored for oil for the purposes of the tax reform bill (Patterson, 2017). The environmentalists are against this proposal. The argument goes once more just like before. Before resolving, however, if the reserve should be put into exploration or not, some factors must be considered. Such factors are the benefits of exploring the oil over not exploring it. What would be the environmental impact considering ANWR is a reserve? How much oil and how long will it feed the US economy if explored? Looking at these factors, the paper resolves that the ANWR should not be opened for oil exploration.
Background
ANWR in Alaska covers a 19. 6- million acre land (Bonilla, 2017). It is one of the pristine areas in the US and mostly called the great wilderness. It hosts various species of wild animals including; polar bear, wolverines, migratory birds, and Alaskan moose among others. The area was declared by President Eisenhower a federally protected area. This was in 1960. In 1980, oil exploration was banned (Bonilla, 2017). Various Congresses and Presidents have worked against the efforts of exploring the area.
After the discovery of the oil at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, the oil business started booming in the Alaskan North Slope. This area today supplies only a quarter of the total domestic output. The exact amount of the oil in the reservoir has not yet been determined due to the banning of drilling in the area. However, geological surveys in 2002 estimated that the oil contained in the reservoir would be from 4.3-11.8 billion barrels (Collins, 2017). The 2008 report by the Department of Energy according to Collins 2017, says that the amount of oil and its quality is uncertain.
America still being in the oil-age, consumes a lot of oil. The total oil importation in America from about 70 foreign countries is 10 million barrels daily. In 2016, the US consumed 25% of the total foreign oil (Reuters Staff, 2016). Considering that the US is a society which is car-centric, it consumes 19 million barrels of oil daily. Summed up together, the US consumes 20% of the world’s total consumption (Reuters Staff, 2016). This is when China’s and Russia’s consumption is put together. Looking at that background, here are the reasons why ANWR should not be opened for oil exploration.
The formation of the oil-bearing rocks is not promising. According to Lewis 2017, the oil-bearing rock based on the geological survey in 1971 is not like the rocks in Prudhoe Bay. The rocks in ANWR are deformed extensively and thus not viable commercially. One of the prominent structures found in the area is Marsh Creek Anticline. This structure is found in the Tertiary rocks that are highly folded. It seems to be dying off as depth increases and is a decollement type. Further explorations to the East expose rocks in a Niguanak structure that are old and Jurassic that are highly deformed (Lewis, 2017). It happens that these are the rocks through which oil seeps have been recorded.
The oil reserves will not bring forth the projected revenues. This is because of the uncertainties of the quality and the amount of oil in the reservoir. The Center for American Progress analyzes that oil drilling at ANWR will not bring forth to the Treasury over $37.5 million (Collins, 2017). This is completely inadequate to pay for the Tax cuts. The Center of American Progress also says that the projected revenues were based on outdated estimations of the resources. The projections also failed to put into account the prevailing low prices of crude oil, the market conditions, and the production costs. When all these are put into consideration, the Republican Congress will discover that it is better if the place was left to be.
Oil seeps do not indicate that the oil below is producible. The best example to stress this point is the Alaska Peninsula. This place has massive seeps of oil. The Lower Cook Inlet also experiences oil seeps in massive. It is, however, notable that none of these seeps have produced oils that have met commercial quantities. The good drill results done by Kaktovik in 1986 are not yet out (Lewis, 2017). When the Aurora well was drilled by Tenneco some four miles away from the refuge, no significant oil shows were found. The only thing found were Jurassic rocks in sequence underlying Tertiary rocks in sequence too (Lew...