HODEL SAYS ODDS ON FINDING NEW ALASKA OIL 1-IN-5
U.S. Interior Secretary Donald Hodel
said there was a one in five chance that new drilling in Alaska
would find oil.
    "But if it's there, there's a very good chance that it would
be a giant field," Hodel said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
    "So it is the best geological prospect that they
(geologists) have talked to me about since I've been involved
in this process," he said.
    Hodel announced yesterday that he would urge Congress to
open up 1.5 mln acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in
Alaska to oil exploration despite fears of environmental damage
threatening the Caribou herd in the region.
    He said today the exploration was needed in an effort to
prevent future U.S. oil shortages and said oil drilling in the
large Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska proved oil could be drilled
without severely damaging the environment.
    He said the Caribou herd at Prudhoe Bay had tripled,
contrary to concerns before the drilling operation that it
would endanger the herd.
 Reuter
