Do you think, with the present state of affairs in the 'oil' world, that the oil companies don't want to be better prepared for the price of oil to climb again?�. (and it will). It's not like you can just throw a switch and have more oil when it does. Incentives are not a bad way to keep them interested - especially with the easy stuff going on down 'dakota-way. Alaska takes a plenteous share of the the pie when it comes to royalties. That's nice but it isn't very competitive. Alaskans know that it isn't always going to be easy street economy-wise, that's our history. The 'old coots' we've employed in DC have understood these issues well; not sure about some of the wet-behind-the-ears gang we've been employing lately though.
As for a gas line, if we can't market it, having cheaper energy for 'our own' may at least offset the expense of having the screws put to our pocketbooks in other ways.
