美国国家公共电台 NPR--An oil and gas lease sale in Alaska may indicate a shift in energy firms' priorities

An oil and gas lease sale in Alaska may indicate a shift in energy firms' priorities

Transcript¹

In Alaska, the Cook Inlet oil and gas lease auction² brought in just one bidder³. It may be a signal of what's to come with leases in the region.

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

A federal oil and gas lease sale in Alaska, held just before the New Year, got a lot of pushback from environmental groups. But in the end, the sale was kind of a dud. Sabine Poux with member station KDLL in Kenai, Alaska, has been following this story. She joins us now to talk about what the results say about the energy industry overall. Sabine, thanks for being here.

SABINE POUX, BYLINE⁴: Hey, thanks for having me.

BROWN: First tell us, why is oil and gas development in this part of the Gulf⁵ of Alaska that borders Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula so controversial?

POUX: Yeah, well, Cook Inlet is home to salmon⁶ and an endangered species of beluga whale. And it's a really important ground for fishing in Alaska. It's also the state's oldest producing oil and gas field. And some say the discoveries there in the 1950s actually paved the way for Alaska to become a state in the first place. The federal government has held lease sales in the inlet since the '70s, when the field was at its peak.

BROWN: There was a lot of buildup at the end of last year when the sale came up. What happened?

POUX: Well, in the end, not much. The Department of the Interior offered up a million acres, but just one oil and gas company actually bid, on a few thousand acres for nearly $64,000. And that wasn't a huge surprise. Hilcorp Alaska has been the only bidder in sales there for a while, and oil and gas production in the inlet has historically stayed within state waters anyway. Those are the waters that are closer inland. So it was highly unlikely that there was going to be any new discovery there.

BROWN: What does this sale say about the future of oil leases in Alaska?

POUX: Well, in some ways, Alaska's pretty unique. It's always been expensive to produce oil and gas here. And the bigger companies left the inlet a long time ago. But the hesitancy to invest in new projects isn't specific to Alaska, according to Mark Squillace. He's a professor of natural resource law at the University of Colorado, Boulder⁷. And he says offshore⁸ development is expensive, and it's time intensive, and that might be worth it in the short term for some companies since the war in Ukraine has so drastically increased energy demand and raised prices. But Squillace says development is a long game, and companies might be doubtful their investments will stand the test of time as renewables become more and more popular - no matter who's in office.

MARK SQUILLACE: Even if the Democrats⁹ were to lose the White House in 2024, I think it's going to be very difficult to change the direction that the country is going in now in terms of moving toward a more sustainable kind of energy environment.

POUX: Squillace expects that uncertainty¹⁰ to discourage new investment in the lower 48 too, like in the Gulf of Mexico. Companies there are having to drill deeper to get to the oil and gas, which means it's more expensive to do so. And they might decide it's just not worth it.

BROWN: Sabine, didn't the Biden administration say they were going to walk back this issue of oil and gas leases? If that's the case, why do they continue to come up for sale?

POUX: Yeah, they did. And they actually tried to cancel this sale multiple times, but it became a bit of a political football in Washington, D.C. Last session, Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska - they made sure Congress couldn't pass a bill focused on renewable energy and climate without these sales included in it. And that's why the Biden administration couldn't cancel the Cook Inlet sale because it became part of what's known as the Inflation Reduction Act.

BROWN: Well, Sabine, with all that said, what happens next for the oil and gas lease in Cook Inlet?

POUX: Yeah, well, Hilcorp still has to jump through some hoops¹¹ before it can actually look for oil and gas on that lease. And even then, it's unlikely they'll find anything noteworthy there at all. Still, these lease sales aren't going to stop anytime soon. Just don't hold your breath that there will be that many companies placing bids for fossil fuel leases in the inlet or anywhere else.

BROWN: Thanks, Sabine.

POUX: You're welcome.

BROWN: That's Sabine Poux with member station KDLL in Kenai, Alaska.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

7 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

8 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

11 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）