ANWR drilling may not be in House budget bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives will have a tough time agreeing to include language in budget legislation that would open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling, House Majority Leader John Boehner warned on Tuesday.

The Senate cleared a huge budget bill earlier this month that would raise billions in leasing fees by giving energy companies access to ANWR's potential 16 billion barrels of crude, which is a key part of the Bush administration's national energy plan to reduce foreign oil imports.

However, a group of two dozen Republican lawmakers in the House have come out against any budget bill with ANWR drilling. A similar position by the group scuttled opening the refuge last year.

Boehner sees problems with getting a budget bill passed this year with language to approve drilling in ANWR.

"I think that ANWR in the budget resolution ... would be very difficult for us," Boehner told reporters. "I am not suggesting it won't be in there, but I think it would be very difficult for the House to pass a budget resolution that included ANWR."

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