ConocoPhillips Leaves ANWR Drilling Lobby Group

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON--ConocoPhillips has dropped out of the state-funded group lobbying for oil development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Spokeswoman Dawn Patience in Anchorage said the company did not renew its membership in the pro-drilling group Arctic Power after 2003. No public announcement was made.

"ConocoPhillips is no longer an active member of Arctic Power," Patience said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. "We have not been involved in the ANWR debate in many years and have focused our investment attention in Alaska toward the gas pipeline and development of other North Slope satellite fields."

However, representatives of an activist group and a socially conscious investment fund said they believed the company's decision came more recently and partly in response to dissatisfaction among some shareholders. The two organizations, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Green Century Capital Management, issued a news release applauding ConocoPhillips' move Wednesday.

In May, 9 percent of ConocoPhillips shareholders voted for a resolution asking the company to report on the environmental and economic risks of drilling in ANWR. The resolution was pushed by USPIRG and Green Century. In December, Green Century filed a second such resolution for consideration at the spring 2005 annual meeting, but told ConocoPhillips it would desist if the company dropped out of Arctic Power."

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