00CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13(RES)                                                                              
01 Endorsing HR 543, legislation removing restraints on the export of Alaska North                                         
02 Slope oil, and requesting the Congress of the United States to pass legislation to                                      
03 permit the export of Alaska crude oil.                                                                                  
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
05  WHEREAS 50 U.S.C.S. Appx. 2406(d) (sec. 7(d), Export Administration Act of 1979)                                       
06 prohibits, with tightly restrictive exceptions, the export of domestically produced crude oil                           
07 transported by pipeline over the right-of-way granted by 43 U.S.C. 1652 (sec. 203 of the                                
08 Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act); and                                                                           
09  WHEREAS the limitation on export of Alaska North Slope crude oil effectively limits                                    
10 its sale to the domestic American market; and                                                                           
11  WHEREAS the higher transportation cost associated with shipping Alaska North Slope                                     
12 crude oil through the Panama Canal to the Gulf Coast states reduces the wellhead price of the                           
13 oil; and                                                                                                                
14  WHEREAS lower wellhead prices raise the economic threshold for exploring for and                                       

01 producing all North Slope oil and, as a result, production from certain existing and newly                              
02 discovered oil fields is currently uneconomic; and                                                                      
03  WHEREAS domestic exploration and development of newly discovered oil reserves                                          
04 will enhance the nation's energy and economic security; and                                                             
05  WHEREAS the foreign export of Alaska North Slope crude oil will provide an                                             
06 incentive for further domestic oil exploration and development; and                                                     
07  WHEREAS new discoveries and production resulting from increased domestic                                               
08 exploration will facilitate the development of infrastructure and production facilities needed                          
09 to produce currently uneconomic Alaska North Slope reserves and, thus, lower the average                                
10 development costs of all Alaska North Slope production; and                                                             
11  WHEREAS exporting oil to Pacific Rim nations will decrease the substantial trade                                       
12 deficit with nations that have expressed a strong interest in purchasing Alaska produced oil,                           
13 as evidenced by the sale under a United States Department of Commerce export license of                                 
14 Alaska Cook Inlet oil to a Taiwanese company; and                                                                       
15  WHEREAS Canada, Mexico, and Venezuela, among other neighboring countries in                                            
16 this hemisphere, may provide stable, secure exports of crude oil to the United States at more                           
17 competitive prices than Alaska North Slope crude oil because of the transportation savings;                             
18 and                                                                                                                     
19  WHEREAS the additional cost of shipping Alaska North Slope crude oil to the Gulf                                       
20 Coast and eastern states imposes an unnecessary burden on those states, reduces federal and                             
21 state tax revenue, reduces state royalties, and discourages exploration and development of                              
22 North Slope reserves; and                                                                                               
23  WHEREAS during his term as president, President George Bush had lifted the ban                                         
24 on the export of oil produced in the State of California;                                                               
25  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature endorses HR 543, legislation                                          
26 removing the restraints on the export of Alaska crude oil; and be it                                                    
27  FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska Congressional delegation and the Governor                                             
28 are urged to continue using their best efforts to obtain passage of HR 543 or comparable                                
29 legislation permitting the export of Alaska crude oil, regardless of the oil's point of production                      
30 within the state.                                                                                                       
31  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the                                

01 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President                            
02 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                         
03 Representatives; the Honorable George Mitchell, Majority Leader of the United States Senate;                            
04 and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and                                  
05 the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in                                       
06 Congress.