At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Bodman said he backs President Bush's pleas for Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The committee is expected to vote on the nomination next week.

"I would expect to be an energetic advocate for it," Bodman said, referring to ANWR. "I think it can be done."

Moderate Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have blocked drilling in the Alaskan wildlife refuge, a vast area the size of South Carolina, which is home to polar bears, caribou and migratory birds.

ANWR is estimated to hold as much as 16 billion barrels of crude oil. Experts say if Congress gave oil companies access to ANWR, it would take a decade before oil would begin flowing.

Sen. Pete Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy panel, hinted that legislative language to allow drilling in the refuge might be added to the government's annual budget bill, which cannot be filibustered under Senate rules. "It will come up one way or another," Domenici said.

Bodman said he generally supported a "balanced" approach in opening more federal lands to drilling. That approach weighs environmental protection against the nation's growing need for energy, he said.

"We regulate the drilling oil and gas wells more effectively than any other country in the world," he said. "I would rather see it go on in this country, where we have ... laws and due process."

Bodman said comprehensive energy legislation is among the most important matters before Congress this year, calling a stable supply of energy "the lifeblood" of the US economy.

Although the Bush administration repeatedly endorsed a broad energy bill with billions of dollars in incentives for the energy industry, it was unable to get it approved by the Republican-controlled Congress.

House leaders have insisted the bill include legal liability protection for oil companies that made the fuel additive MTBE, blamed for groundwater contamination in many cities. The Senate opposed such protection.

Bodman also said he supported incentives to attract investment in the nation's aging electric transmission grid.

Bodman was a chemical engineering professor and chairman of Cabot Corp., a specialty chemicals company from 1987 through 2001.

Bodman was confirmed twice before for senior jobs at the Commerce and Treasury departments during the past four years.

Although many industry lobbyists and analysts have expressed surprise at the selection of someone with a lack of energy experience, they note Vice President Dick Cheney is likely to continue directing major energy policy issues. The White House has denied Cheney plays such a role.

The Energy Department, with a $23 billion budget, runs a network of nuclear weapons research laboratories.

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