The senator likely to replace New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee next year said he is interested in finding ways to increase oil and gas production from existing wells and will continue to research the export of Alaskan gas to markets in Asia.

Both issues grabbed the attention of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden during his visit in late August with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who is expected to retain the top Republican seat on the panel in the 113th Congress.

Wyden's visit -- which included seeing a geothermal plant at Chena Hot Springs, a liquefied natural gas terminal at Kenai and an offshore oil platform in Cook Inlet -- provided a glimpse of the relationship that could define the committee's agenda next session.

"There's no substitute for having the chance to be on the ground, talking with people and getting a chance to really pick it up firsthand," said Wyden, who currently chairs the Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee.

He said he met industry representatives in the Cook Inlet who emphasized the importance of policies promoting the recovery of more oil and gas from existing wells.

"The question I asked is, well, everybody is going to ask, 'What does this do to your footprint? Is this going to be something that automatically tends to be polarizing?'" he said. "They said, 'We want you to know that we can get more oil and gas without increasing our footprint.'"

Wyden, who also sits on the Senate Finance Committee, is interested in tax policies that would incentivize more redevelopment at existing wells and fields, according to the Alaska Journal of Commerce.

"I'm going to do some homework on this, but the way I left it is anything like that that allows you to get more oil and gas out of existing wells without increasing our footprint ought to be something we pick up on," he said.

Wyden said he also has due diligence to do before taking a position on the export of Alaskan natural gas to Asian markets. Wyden in the past has sounded the alarm over proposals to export the fuel, warning it would raise prices for domestic businesses and consumers. He said industry argued to him that Alaskan gas does not go to the lower 48 states.

"We went out on a platform in Cook Inlet, which really illustrates some of the challenges with stranded gas," he said. "They're very interested in exporting."

Wyden four years ago called for a ban on the export of natural gas from Alaska.

Murkowski has recently argued that Alaska's best chance for finding a market for natural gas may be Japan or other Asian nations after prospects dimmed for a multibillion-dollar pipeline to ferry the fuel through Canada to the lower 48 states.

Wyden also visited Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) to tour the Fire Island Wind Project in Anchorage and discuss their "Bipartisian Tax Fairness and Simplification Act" at a roundtable hosted by the Anchorage Economic Development Corp.

'Best seafood meal that I can recall'

While in Alaska, Wyden said he was particularly impressed with the seafood dinner prepared by Murkowski's husband, Verne Martell, at the senator's home.

"Verne knows more ways to make salmon fantastic than any person on the planet," said Wyden, who, as an Oregon resident, should be no stranger to the fish. "It started with the appetizers and just kept going."

"Verne cooked what was arguably the best seafood meal that I can recall ever happening," he added.