Alaska North Slope: inclined to the sea.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy
• Position: Regional Focus

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The Alaska North Slope is one of the most intriguing and impactful regions in the world. Partially coastal, partially flat, treeless tundra, partially foothills and mountains, the North Slope occupies nearly 89,000 square miles, about 57 million acres, across the top 15 percent of Alaska, extending north from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean and west from the Alaska border with Canada to the Chukchi Sea. The term "North Slope" refers to the region's very gradual decline in elevation from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean.

Title is held by the federal government, the State of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, Arctic Slope Regional Corp., and the communities of Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Barrow, Atqasuk, Nuiqsuit, Kaktovik and Anaktuvuk Pass, and their respective ANCSA village corporations and federally recognized tribal organizations. Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse, though not a Native village, is also a community of sorts. The National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska takes up 36,000 square miles, about 23 million acres, and was set aside in 1923 by President Warren Harding for the Navy. It has long since been transferred to the federal Bureau of Land Management, which holds periodic lease sales for oil and gas exploration and development. It is under controversy because the current administration wants to place half the petroleum reserve off limits to the petroleum industry. The North Slope is also home to portions of the Noatak National Preserve, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

North Slope Oil

The Alaska North Slope is synonymous with oil and gas exploration, development and production. To say that it supports the Alaska economy is an understatement. Prudhoe Bay is the largest oilfield in North America in terms of recoverable oil. The trans-Alaska oil pipeline carries the oil pumped from the various fields to Valdez where it is taken by tanker to West Coast refineries to help supply the U.S. with oil. The Prudhoe Bay Unit is owned by ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc. (36.40%), ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. (36.08%), BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (26.36%) and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (1.16%). It is operated by BP and ConocoPhillips. Spanning approximately 15 miles by 40 miles, the main Prudhoe Bay field has a number of adjacent "satellite" oilfields.

The second largest oilfield is the Kuparuk River Unit, owned by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. (53.86%), BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (38.19%), Chevron USA Inc. (4.93%) and ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc. (3.02%). It is operated by ConocoPhillips.

Other North Slope fields in production include: Nikaitchuq Unit, owned by Eni US Operating Co. Inc. (100%); Milne Point Unit, owned by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (97.03%), Eni Petroleum US LLC (1.09%), Herbaly Exploration LLC (1.02%), and two other companies with fractional interests; Oooguruk Unit, owned by Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc. (72.68%), Eni Petroleum US LLC (25.97%), and three other companies with fractional interests; Colville River Unit, owned by ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. (77.39%), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (21.69%), and three other companies with fractional interests; Badami Unit, owned by Savant Alaska LLC (67.50%), ASRC Exploration LLC (32.50%); and Northstar Unit, owned by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (98.02%), Murphy Exploration...