The Clinton question: will the new administration in Washington, D.C., lock up Alaska oil development?

• Author: Richardson, Jeffrey
• Position: Alaska's petroleum industry - Industry Overview

Asking oil patch officials how they feel about Bill Clinton being elected president is like asking Evander Holyfield how he'd feel about facing a bright young Olympic boxer after losing his heavyweight crown.

Having lost a half million jobs since oil prices plunged in the mid-1980s, the industry is skeptical about a new president who picked Al Gore, the U.S. Senate's leading environmental advocate, to be his running mate.

"The general consensus is that it will mean more -- and worse -- trouble, although some might wonder how things could be worse," complains Charles DiBona, president of the American Petroleum Institute (API).

"We are understandably concerned that a new Democratic administration, assisted by a House and Senate controlled by the same party, could put in place interventionist energy policies that would force our domestic petroleum industry and the American consumer farther down the road of economic hardship," says DiBona.

Many in America's corporate community who gambled on Clinton are breathing a sigh of relief that the new president has tapped fiscal moderates and conservatives to fill key economic policy posts. But oil execs are more concerned about how President Clinton and his team will shape the regulatory and resource management climate. So far, there's little to sing about.

Skepticism in the oil patch ranges from privately-whispered anxiety to loud warnings of doom. Many company representatives refuse to comment on prospects for rapport with the new team in Washington. This official silence seems to reflect both the sensitivity of pending issues -- wetlands regulations, development access to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- as well as a reluctance to antagonize an administration that might be flexible on some of these issues.

Alaska Reaction

Representatives of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association declined interviews for this story, citing a greater concern with state than federal political affairs.

"Caution is the word I hear expressed most often," says Esther Wunnicke, a former state commissioner of natural resources and longtime resource policy analyst who participated in Clinton's economic summit in December.

Arco Alaska spokesman John Roots says his firm is comfortable with the new Democratic regime, but concedes he's worried about how well Clinton understands Alaska.

"Everyone's a little apprehensive," says Tom Cook, a former Chevron official. Cook says the health of the industry might improve if Clinton...