Committed to Alaska: big three oil companies continue investing millions in the 49th state.

• Author: Orr, Vanessa

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Alaska is a land of many natural resources, and chief among them is oil. It is not only vital to the state's economy but also to the livelihoods of many Alaskans. While thousands of people are involved in the oil industry, three major companies--ExxonMobil, BP Exploration and ConocoPhillips--have made their marks by investing millions of dollars in exploration, research and recovery, and in ensuring Alaska's legacy as a world leader in oil production.

While facing a number of challenges, including a changing tax structure, possible construction of a natural gas pipeline, and the need for new technologies to raise oil recovery rates even further, each of these companies continues to be committed to the 49th state. And there is much to be committed to: according to the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Minerals Management Service, Alaska's technically recoverable resources are 53 billion barrels of oil. This is in addition to the Department of Natural Resources estimate for known remaining oil resources of 6 billion barrels.

"To date, Alaska has produced close to 17 billion barrels of oil," said Craig Haymes, production manager for ExxonMobil in Alaska in recent testimony before the Alaska House Special Committee on Oil and Gas. "This is a world-class result--but is still less than one-fourth of the potential of 76 billion barrels."

EXXONMOBIL IN ALASKA

For more than 50 years, ExxonMobil has been a key player in Alaska's oil industry development, investing more than $20 billion in the state. Over the past two decades, the company has also invested close to $280 billion worldwide searching for new supplies of energy, building new production facilities, expanding refinery capacity and deploying new environmentally sound technologies.

As the world's largest publicly traded oil company, ExxonMobil employs 84,000 around the world. The company has refining operations in 26 countries and 43,000 retail sites in more than 100 countries. They explore for oil and gas on six of the seven continents. In 2006, ExxonMobil earned $39.5 billion in revenues, the largest-ever profit in U.S. history, according to Fortune Magazine, which named it No. 2 on their 2007 Fortune 500 list.

In Alaska, ExxonMobil currently holds the largest working interest at Prudhoe Bay (36.4 percent) and the company's current working interest share of oil production in the state is approximately 150,000 barrels per day. ExxonMobil is also the largest owner of...