North slope regional review: resources spur development of Alaska's northernmost borough.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy

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Alaska's North Slope region is virtually synonymous with oil. Its expansive Prudhoe Bay field is the largest in the United States in terms of recoverable oil. The North Slope--which is about the size of the state of Oregon--is believed to have the greatest remaining oil potential of any onshore area in the country.

The oil patch was very busy last year, said Nell Fried, a labor economist with the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Employment is booming on the Slope, with the total number of oilfield jobs expected to reach a record 11,400 for 2007, compared to 10,200 in 2006, according to Fried.

The rise in employment can be attributed, in part, to Prudhoe Bay pipeline corrosion problems that called for the inspection and replacement of old pipes. In addition, prices for Alaska oil hit more than $90 a barrel in 2007, spurring the creation of more oilfield projects and jobs.

As the labor market tightens, unemployment rates on the North Slope are steadily decreasing.

"Last year (2006), they ran 7 percent; this year, they could easily come in at 6 percent or lower," Fried said in December 2007. "But I don't think that's representative of a dynamic expanding labor market that's exempt from the oil patch."

OIL KEY TO REGION

Oil, along with government, is clearly what drives the North Slope's economy. It is also fueling the continued success of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., which represents eight villages on the North Slope: Point Hope, Point Lay, Wainwright, Atqasuk, Barrow, Nuiqsut, Kaktovik and Anaktuvuk Pass.

With headquarters in Barrow and administrative offices in Anchorage, ASRC is the state's largest Alaska Native corporation. It represents nearly 9,000 Alaska Native shareholders, primarily of Inupiat Eskimo descent.

ASRC operates a variety of businesses and employs about 6,000. Companies under its umbrella engage in the fields of engineering, financial management, oil and gas support services, petroleum refining and distribution, civil construction and communications.

ASRC holds title to about 5 million acres of Alaska's North Slope. Most of these lands are highly prospective for oil and gas, coal and base metal sulfides. The corporation's known resource reserves include the Alpine oil field and the western Arctic coalfields.

"Alpine is a significant discovery and a significant oil field not only to the North Slope, but to the rest of Alaska," said Tara Sweeney, ASRC's Anchorage-based director...