OIL SEARCH IN ALASKA

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27443, 1 September 1954, Page 14

OIL SEARCH IN ALASKA

Extensive Exploration This Summer

TEST WELLS DRILLED NEAR ANCHORAGE

(From a Reuter Correspondent) ANCHORAGE, (Alaska),

The biggest oil hunt in Alaska’s history is und-;r way this summer as an intensive search for possible petroleum fields is carried on in widely scattered parts of the territory by both local firms and major producers from the United States. Although the first oil seepages were, discovered in Alaska in 1853, six years before the first oil well was drilled in the United States, this territory has yet to contribute its first major producing well. Oil exploration has, however, been increasing for several years and has reached a peak this summer. Test wells are now being drilled in the Cook Inlet area near Anchorage, along the Alaska Peninsula, and in the Yakataga area on the coast. Mapping and other oil exploration work is also going on in several other sections of Alaska.

Reasons for the revival of interest in Alaskan oil are many and varied. They include the belief of many geologists that Alaska presents the last great possibilities for major new discoveries under the American flag. Easing of some government restrictions on land lease laws in Alaska, and the depletion of -oil reserves in other parts of the world have also contributed.

Oil samples were first taken out of Alaska for analysis in 1882, and five years before the Klondike gold rush in 1898 oil claims were staked on the Alaska Peninsula. In spite of this early start and many favourable indications, the possibility of an Alaskan oil industry was virtually killed early in this century by new major discoveries in the United States. The final blow came in 1906 when, the Government withdrew all coal and oil lands as a conservation measure. This drastic order was later relaxed somewhat. Until the start of World War 11, however, there were several minor oil booms in Alaska, but no major discoveries.

The present exploration is financed by private investment. Although an oil industry for Alaska is still only a possibility, many prominent Alaskans believe that it presents the best possible answer to the current decline in government defence spending here. Mrs Irene Ryan, an Anchorage engineer, says: “Oil development of commercial importance in Alaska may take 20 years or it may occur this summer, but one thing is certain—it will occur. Dr. Alexander Baird, manager of the Alaska Development Board, a territorial agency, emphasising that “there is hardly a major firm that is. not interested in Alaskan oil reserves,” adds: “It is extremely likely that Anchorage will become the centre of an oil boom.”

All the major present-day oil exploration is going on in Central Alaska, south of the Arctic Circle. Much of this area is served by, or near to Alaska’s limited road network and single government-owned railway. The climate in much of this area is as mild as in the middle western United States and Canada, and ice-free harbours are available.