within the proposed leasing area and believe that onshore socio-economic 

 impacts may be as severe as those predicted for the northern Gulf. 67 



An extensive coring program in the western Gulf of Alaska is 

 currently underway by several oil companies to improve geological data 

 prior to the lease sale. Five oil companies have contracted Exploration 

 Services Company to drill up to ten 4,000 ft. holes in the proposed 

 leasing area. 68 In addition, Atlantic Richfield Company plans to drill 

 a 7,500 ft. stratigraphic test well on the Kodiak shelf about 50 miles 

 east of the city of Kodiak. 69 



Environmental and Socioeconomic Impacts 



No major OCS impact studies are presently available for the western 

 Gulf of Alaska. Several studies, however, are in progress and will be 

 completed in the near future. These include: (1) a draft and final 

 environmental impact statement by the BLM, (2) a socio economic impact 

 study under contract for several oil companies by Mathematical Sciences 

 Northwest, and (3) onshore planning and coastal impact-studies conducted 

 by Alaska's Department of Community and Regional Affairs. 



Some work, already completed, by 0' Conner and Dobey predicts the 

 rate and amount of offshore and onshore OCS development for two different 

 production scenarios resulting from the proposed Kodiak lease sale. 70 

 Their findings are grouped into two distinct categories, one for a low 

 production scenario (372 million barrels of oil and 2.3 billion cubic 

 feet of gas) and one for a high production scenario (2.5 billion barrels 

 of oil and 8 trillion cubic feet of gas). They estimate a high production 

 scenario would result in: 



48 



