Port Adak: the gateway to oil development in the Arctic.

• Author: Cottrell, Paula
• Position: OIL & GAS

In an effort to revitalize the fledging community of Adak, Aleut Enterprise and Aleut Real Estate, subsidiaries of the Aleut Corporation, joined forces with Offshore Systems, Inc. in June to reopen the former Adak military base to provide logistics support for offshore drilling operations in the Arctic.

The Adak Army Base and Adak Naval Operating Base were constructed during World War II to provide counteroffensive support against the Japanese invasion of Kiska and Attu Islands. After the war ended, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard developed the facilities to support military personnel that were stationed in the area during the decades to follow. At its peak, the base was home to anywhere from 5,000 to 7,000 servicemen and their families. treat the cold war was officially closed in 1997. In the following years, the island would become a virtual ghost town with the closures of family housing, schools, recreational facilities and restaurants, including the most western McDonalds in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2010, the population of Adak had dropped to 326 people.

In 2004, the Aleut Corp. purchased Adak's base facilities under a land transfer agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense. Until the recent partnership with OSI, it was unclear how the local Alaska Native Corporation and its subsidiaries planned to breathe life into their new investment.

Speculation of planned civilian development for Adak by the Alaska Native Corporation was centered around fuel sales and small-scale fish processing with far reaching plans, including development of the area to support air cargo trans-shipment between Europe, Asia and the West Coast; a Sea-based X-band radar site; and the possibility of a large-scale prison.

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When Arctic offshore oil exploration began gaining traction over the last few years with companies like Shell, Conoco Phillips and Statoil positioning themselves to begin development of the Outer Continental Shelf, OSI and the Aleut Corp. teamed up when they saw an opportunity to provide oilfield and logistics services that would support those efforts.

Building a Gateway to the Arctic

OSI and the Aleut Corporation envisioned creating a logistical gateway--in Adak--to Arctic drilling, similar to the way Port Fourchon serves as the gate way for oil exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. "With tax advantages favoring oil exploration in...