U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is calling for a ban on the export of natural gas from Alaska.

On Tuesday, Wyden announced in a press release he has asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to reconsider the Department of Energy’s order endorsing the exportation of 98.1 billion cubic feet of Alaskan natural gas to Japan, and neighboring Pacific Rim countries.

“The Administration is trying to have it both ways — arguing that we need to drill everywhere because we don’t have adequate energy supplies, while finding that we have so much energy that big oil companies can export it overseas and keep prices here at home higher than they would otherwise be,” Wyden wrote in a letter to Secretary Bodman.

Wyden argues that in allowing the exports, the department isn’t meeting the rules of the Natural Gas Act, which demands a public interest test. He said the amount of natural gas exported is enough to supply 1.4 million America families for a year. There’s a price issue, too.

The senator said analysts estimate natural gas will be 22 percent more expensive for American households this year than in 2007. And in the West, it’s likely to cost 24 percent more, with the West being the region where Alaska predominately would sell its product.

“For the Department to categorically reject an opportunity to provide additional supplies of energy to American consumers, both in Alaska and on the West Coast, at a time of record energy prices, and instead let these companies send that energy to overseas markets, demands a Secretarial-level review,” he said.