History of Alaska Oil Industry

1950's
- 1957
  
  The Swanson River Oil Field in Kenai is discovered after 166 consecutive dry holes were drilled in Alaska.
  
  1958
  
  The Petroleum Club of Anchorage chartered in Anchorage Alaska.
  
  1959
  
  Alaska becomes 49th state.
  
  First offshore Cook Inlet lease sale.
  
  Kenai gas field discovered.
1960's
- 1961
  
  Sterling Gas Field discovered in Cook Inlet.
  
  1962
  
  Beluga River Gas Field discovered north of Tyonek.
  
  1963
  
  Middle Ground Shoal the first offshore field in Cook Inlet, discovered
  
  1964
  
  State holds first Lease Sale in Prudhoe Bay.
  
  9.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Alaska.
  
  First of 16 offshore platforms installed in Cook Inlet.
  
  1965
  
  Granite Point, McArthur River, Trading Bay are discovered in Cook Inlet.
  
  1966
  
  Alaska Oil and Gas Association established.
  
  1967
  
  Beaver Creek gas field discovered on Kenai Peninsula.
  
  1968
  
  Prudhoe Bay, largest oil field in North America, discovered.
  
  1969
  
  State receives a record $900 million from North Slope lease sale.
  
  Tesoro Refinery comes on-line.
  
  Kuparuk, America’s second largest oil field, discovered.
  
  Milne Point discovered.
1970's
- 1970
  
  Cook Inlet oil production peaks at 225,000 BOPD.
  
  1971
  
  Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) passed by Congress; clears way for authorization of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).
  
  1973
  
  Vice President Agnew casts tie-breaking vote, authorizing construction of the 800-mile pipeline.
  
  Arab oil embargo reduces America’s oil supply causing gasoline shortages.
  
  1974
  
  Construction begins on TAPS; estimated cost $900 million.
  
  1975
  
  TAPS 50% complete, employing a peak work force of 28,072.
  
  Wellhead price of U.S. crude oil more than doubles in three years to $7.56 per barrel.
  
  1976
  
  Alaskans pass constitutional amendment creating the Permanent Fund.
  
  First federal offshore lease sale (OCS) held for the Gulf of Alaska.
  
  1977
  
  TAPS complete; largest project ever constructed with total workforce of 70,000, final costs of $8 billion.
  
  Prudhoe Bay production begins; projected 9.6 billion total recoverable reserves.
  
  1978
  
  Endicott Oil Pool discovered; first offshore oil field in the U.S. Arctic.
  
  1979
  
  ExxonMobil drills first well at Point Thomson.
  
  1,000th tanker leaves Valdez.
  
  1979 Oil Crisis occurs in wake of Iranian Revolution.
1980's
- 1980
  
  One billionth barrel flows through TAPS.
  
  Congress passes Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
  
  MMS and USGS begin drilling COST wells in Alaska OCS, 7 wells drilled in the early 1980’s.
  
  1981
  
  Kuparuk River Unit begins production.
  
  1982
  
  Mukluk #1 well drilled in Beaufort Sea, the most expensive dry hole in history.
  
  Beaufort Sea OCS lease sale generates more than $2 billion.
  
  Oil prices rise to $34 per barrel.
  
  469,740 Alaskans receive first PFD.
  
  1985
  
  Milne Point begins production.
  
  1986
  
  Oil prices collapse; state petroleum revenue and general fund are half of previous year.
  
  Chevron drills the KIC #1 well in ANWR, the only well ever drilled in Area 1002.
  
  Platform Steelhead installed in Cook Inlet, first new platform in 18 years.
  
  Endicott Oil Pool begins production from two artificial islands, the first in Alaska.
  
  1988
  
  North Slope production peaks at 2 million bpd.
  
  Point McIntyre oil field discovered.
  
  1989
  
  Exxon Valdez oil spill occurs in Prince William Sound.
1990's
- 1990
  
  Persian Gulf War starts; oil prices increase to more than $20 per barrel.
  
  1991
  
  Natural gas prices average $1.46 per BTU.
  
  1992
  
  Kuparuk production peaks at 322,000 BOPD.
  
  1993
  
  ARCO Alaska drills two Sunfish wells in Cook Inlet.
  
  1994
  
  ARCO Alaska discovers the Alpine Field on North Slope
  
  1996
  
  Alpine Field is declared commercial by ARCO Alaska.
  
  Gas production in Cook Inlet peaks at 223 BCF/year.
  
  1997
  
  20th anniversary of TAPS.
  
  1998
  
  State institutes Areawide leasing program.
  
  1999
  
  First BLM lease sale in National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPRA) since the 1980’s.
  
  Oil prices fall to $12 per barrel.
2000's
- 2000
  
  Alpine begins production, largest onshore oilfield discovered in North America in the past decade.
  
  PFD reaches all-time high of $1,963.86.
  
  2001
  
  Platform Osprey installed in Cook Inlet, first new platform in 15 years.
  
  NorthStar begins production, first production from an offshore island with no road access to shore.
  
  2002
  
  Ninilchik Unit discovered onshore Cook Inlet, largest gas discovery in 20 years.
  
  2003
  
  Pioneer Natural Resources discovers Oooguruk Field in Harrison Bay
  
  2004
  
  First new double hull “Alaska Class” tanker begins service.
  
  2005
  
  15 billionth barrel of oil transported through TAPS.
  
  Oil prices reach all-time high of $70 per barrel.
  
  2006
  
  State of Alaska changes tax structure from gross value tax to Petroleum Production Tax. (PPT)
  
  2007
  
  The PPT amended to ACES (Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share)
  
  Shell bids $3 billion for Federal leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
  
  2008
  
  ExxonMobil begins drilling at Point Thomson bringing on 3 successful wells.
  
  Oil prices reach all-time high of $147 per barrel in July.
  
  Eni Petroleum begins drilling at Nikaitchuq on North Slope.
  
  2009
  
  Alaska Tax Credit Act approved by legislature to encourage smaller producers to enter Alaska market.
2010
- 2011
  
  Armstrong Oil and Gas and Repsol join forces to begin exploring State leases west of Kuparuk.
  
  Hilcorp Alaska, LLC acquires all of Chevron’s properties in the Cook Inlet Basin.
  
  2012
  
  Furie Operating Alaska discovers Kitchen Light Field.
  
  2014
  
  Hilcorp Alaska, LLC acquires Milne Point, NorthStar, Endicott and Liberty fields on the North Slope.
  
  2015
  
  Shell drills the Burger J exploration well in the Chukchi Sea.
  
  2016
  
  Armstrong Oil and Gas drills the Horseshoe #1 discovery well in the Nanushuk play near Colville River.
  
  2017 - 2018
  
  ConocoPhillips Alaska drills six successful exploration wells on the North Slope.
  
  2018
  
  Department of Interior opens ANWR to leasing for the first time in 38 years.
  
  2019
  
  Alaska marks a milestone with 18 billion barrels of oil pumped through the pipeline.
  
  2020
  
  BP pulls out of Alaska, making way for Hilcorp to acquire its oil fields on the North Slope.
  
  2021
  
  First oil flows from ConocoPhillips Greater Moose's Tooth #2 drill site.