Prudhoe Bay Oil Field - History

History

Commercial oil exploration started in Prudhoe Bay area in the 1960s and the field was discovered on March 12, 1968, by Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and Humble Oil (which later grew to become Exxon), with the well Prudhoe Bay State #1. ARCO was the operating partner. Drilling sites for the discovery and confirmation wells were staked by geologist Marvin Mangus. BP was among the companies that had been active in the region, and BP was able to establish itself as a major player in the western part of the Prudhoe field. The field was initially operated as two separate developments, the BP Western Operating Area and the ARCO Eastern Operating Area. Upon acquisition of ARCO by BP and sale of ARCO Alaska assets to Phillips Petroleum in 2000, the two operating areas were consolidated and BP became the sole operator of the field. In 1974 the State of Alaska's Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys estimated that the field held 10 billion barrels (1.6×109 m3) of oil and 26 trillion cubic feet (740×10^9 m3) of natural gas. Production did not begin until June 20, 1977 when the Alaska Pipeline was completed.