THT 6/3/76

WASHINGTON, March 5 (NYT). - House and Senate conferees reached agreement yesterday on a bill authorizing fullscale production at three of four caval petroleum reserves, including Teapot Dome in Wyoming.

The fourth and largest of the reserves, in Alaska, la Potentlally the richest. Estimates of the amount of reserves range up to 33 billion barrels, or three times the proven reserves at Prudhose Bay in Alaska. The bill would transfer jurisdiction over Reserve No 4 from the Navy to the Departement of the Interior, with production prohibited uniess specifically authorized by Congress.

The bill is expected to lead to the production of at least 250,000 barrels a day of crude oil at Reserve No, 1, Elk Hills, in California, and possible 20,000 barrels a day at No, 3, Teapot Dome.

The United States currently uses about 16,5 million barrels of oil a day.

The corrupt sale of leases on the latter property resulted in the Teapot Dome scandal, which rocked the harding administration in the early 1920s and sent the secretary of the interior Albert Fall, to prison after his conviction in 1929.