Chapter 111 

 ENERGY 



The United States will of necessity continue to rely heavily upon 

 petroleum and natural gas to meet rising energy demands for some 

 years to come. Oil and gas supplies must be augmented rapidly, in a 

 manner consistent with our economic, environmental, and security 

 interests, despite recent declining trends in domestic production. 



The available sources for ~ increasing supplies are primarily 

 imports from foreign areas having excess production capacity, 

 Northern Alaska reserves, and the large untapped potential re- 

 serves of the nation's continental shelves and adjacent slopes. 

 Imports and offshore oil production necessarily involve marine 

 operations, as will also tapping Alaskan reserves if we are to 

 minimize further increasingly serious delays in bringing Alaskan 

 crude to our refineries. The Federal Government and industry share 

 an interest in these sources and are strengthening their associations 

 in an effort to expedite delivery of supplies from all three. No one of 

 them is adequate to meet projected demands for hydrocarbons, even 

 if supplemented by "synthetic" crude and natural gas from oil shale, 

 coal, or other sources. 



Of these three sources, increasing imports is the one most readily 

 available to meet current and near-term shortages. Three to five 

 years will be required to complete construction and begin delivery of 

 oil through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and to find, 

 explore, develop, and produce new oil fields on the continental 

 shelves. Supertankers or "VLCC's" (very large crude carriers) and 

 LNG (liquified natural gas) carriers can provide the most economical 

 and environmentally desirable means of delivering imports from 

 distant areas, such as the Middle and Near East, which are currently 

 the only regions with sufficient producing capacity to fulfill our 

 Nation's demands. The VLCC's require deepwater ports. Planning 

 for these ports and for supporting facilities to handle and process 

 their cargo requires consideration of many factors to assure efficient 

 operations and to minimize risks to the environment. 



Economic impacts and environmental concerns, as well as security 

 considerations associated with the import of oil and gas from foreign 

 areas, provide strong incentives for accelerated development of 



Shown bow on, this supertanker, 326,000 tons, has a length of 1,135 feet and a 



loaded draft Of 80 feet. (Gulf Oil Corp. Photo— Courtesy of American Petroleum Institute) 



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