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U.S. senator wants to stop Alaska natural gas exports to Japan, others+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON, Sept. 9_(Kyodo) _ A U.S. senator said Tuesday he has asked the government to reverse a recent decision to authorize the export of 98.1 billion cubic feet (about 2.8 billion cubic meters) of Alaskan natural gas to Japan and other countries. Ron Wyden of Oregon said in a statement that he made the call in a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, citing projections that if Alaskan natural gas is exported as planned, Americans' overall natural gas costs will be an average of 22 percent higher this winter than last. According to his letter, a copy of which was made available in the statement, the Energy Department gave approval to two major oil companies -- ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil -- in June and July to export Alaskan natural gas to Japan and other Pacific Rim countries. "The administration is trying to have it both ways -- arguing that we need to drill everywhere because we don't have adequate energy supplies, while finding that we have so much energy that big oil companies can export it overseas and keep prices here at home higher than they would otherwise be," Wyden said. The decision "will allow the export of as much natural gas as is used by 1.4 million American families in a year," he said. "It is hard to see how the department concluded that the proposed export of Alaskan natural gas met the required public interest test" with respect to domestic needs. In the letter, the senator asked for a response by next Monday. Japan has been importing natural gas from Alaska since 1969. Japan's Natural Resources and Energy Agency says the country depended on foreign natural gas for 96 percent of its natural gas needs in fiscal 2006, the latest year for which data is available. Of the imported natural gas, only 1.8 percent came from the United States, it said. Copyright ? 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc. |