Washington ? The House on Thursday night endorsed oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, setting up a likely confrontation with the Senate as Congress struggles to produce a comprehensive energy policy.

An attempt to strip a House energy bill of a provision that would allow development of the refuge’s oil was turned back by a 228-197 vote. Drilling opponents argued more oil could be saved with higher auto fuel economy requirements than the refuge could produce.

Earlier, the House rejected a proposal to require a 5 percent reduction in fuel used by motor vehicles, including SUVs and pickup trucks, within seven years. Opponents to the measure said it would force automakers to make small cars.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., sponsor of the anti-drilling amendment, criticized “going to a pristine area in the Arctic and drilling” and then putting the oil “into SUVs that get 10 to 13 miles a gallon.” If lawmakers are unwilling to improve auto fuel economy “we have no right to jeopardize a pristine wilderness that should be preserved for the next generation,” he said.

But Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, said those who argued against developing the refuge’s oil didn’t have the facts.

A final vote on the bill — which includes a string of incentives for oil and gas development, $18.7 billion in tax breaks, mostly to energy companies, and a requirement for greater use of corn-based ethanol as a gasoline additive — was expected to come today.