Arctic energy development is about being farsighted about America's energy needs in the decades ahead.
A recent National Petroleum Council (NPC) report on the energy development potential of the Arctic, states that the region contains 525 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE). Thirty-four billion barrels of oil lie beneath the United States' share of the Arctic. According to the NPC report "this represents about 15 years of current U.S. net oil imports."
But as Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil's CEO, told the AP's Jonathan Fahey developing that energy safely will take decades:
Anytime you are dealing in these frontier areas where you are really driven by technology, these are very long time frames, multi-decade time frames.
The second element is just the enormity of the energy demand in the world. It's between 85 and 90 million barrels of oil per day today. That takes huge resources to supply that in a reliable way.
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This will be what's needed next. If we start today it'll take 20, 30, 40 years for those to come on.
This NPC chart walks you through the time line for Arctic energy development, from lease sales to year-round production.
Tillerson went on to explain why these resources will need to be tapped:
Oil demand is going to continue to grow as population grows. If you look out 25 years from now we are going to have another couple of billion people on the planet, we're going to be at 9 billion people. Something like 3 billion people are going to move from poverty into middle class status. When they do that, the energy demand goes up enormously.
As we move out into the middle of this century our outlook shows you are going to need those resources even with a lot of other alternative forms of energy continuing at a fairly aggressive growth rate.
Also, as Gary Litman, vice president for International Strategic Initiatives at the U.S. Chamber reminds us in RealClearPolitics populations both near and far from the Arctic will benefit from responsible energy development:
Oil and gas hidden under the Arctic ice, and the infrastructure that private investment in these fields will bring, are a viable solution to the growing development needs of the northern populations. These are local resources that will contribute tremendously to the local economies.
Like nurturing the successful shale boom, advancing Arctic energy development is about embracing America's energy abundance. Doing that will enhance our nation's energy security.