THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY

President Clinton today signed into law S. 395, ending the 22-year ban on exporting crude oil from Alaska's North Slope. The Administration-backed measure also provides new incentives that will stimulate oil and gas production in the United States, and allows the sale of the Alaska Power Administration.

By signing S. 395 into law, the President has delivered on a promise that will change America's future for the better. It is another example of this Administration's commitment to stimulating economic growth, to bringing common sense to government and to seeking common ground.

Lifting the ban on exporting Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil was one of the Administration's top energy policy priorities. It's good fiscal policy, sensible economic policy and, most important, sound energy policy.

A Department of Energy study last year concluded that removing the ban would mean up to 25,000 more jobs for American workers, particularly in California and Alaska. The study also found that this action would benefit U.S. oil producers, increase international trade and result in up to $2 billion in increased federal, state and local royalty and tax payments.

Providing deepwater royalty relief will reduce America's dependence on unreliable sources of imported oil by helping unlock an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil in the central and western Gulf of Mexico. Nearly $10 billion in new investment in the U.S. energy sector will be created -- especially in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi -- stimulating new drilling platform construction and increased exploration and production activity in the Gulf of Mexico. It also will contribute an extra $200 million in bonus and royalty payments to the U.S. Treasury.

Selling the Alaska Power Administration (APA) will allow it to be more efficient and responsive to the needs of Alaskans than it was under federal ownership.

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