National Petroleum Reserve

Natural History of Alaska

• Native Peoples of Alaska
• Alaska Land Mammals
• Alaska Birds
• Close Encounters with Wildlife
• Denali National Park and Preserve
• Geologic History of Denali National Park
• Alaska Geology
• Major Vegetation Types of Alaska
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• National Petroleum Reserve

• Alaska Government
• Legislation that Shaped Alaska's History

In 1923, President Harding signed an executive order creating Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 4 (NPR-4), the last of four petroleum reserves to be placed under control of the U.S. Navy. The secretary was charged to “explore, protect, conserve, develop, use and operate the Naval Petroleum Reserves,” including NPR-4, on Alaska’s North Slope.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) had begun surface exploration in the area in 1901; following creation of the 23.5-million-acre preserve, the Navy conducted exploration programs. From 1944 to 1953, extensive geological and geophysical surveys were conducted and 36 test wells were drilled. Nine oil and gas fields were discovered, the largest oil field, near Umiat, contains an estimated 70-1 20 million barrels of recoverable oil. Active exploration was suspended 
in 1953. 

In 1974, the Arab oil embargo, coupled with the knowledge of a large petroleum reserve at nearby Prudhoe Bay, brought about renewed interest in NPR-4, and Congress directed the navy to resume its exploration program. In 1976, all lands within NPR-4 were redesignated the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPR-A) and jurisdiction was transferred to the secretary of the interior. In 1980, Congress authorized the secretary of the interior to prescribe an expeditious program of competitive leasing of oil and gas tracts in. the reserve, clearing the way for private development of the area’s resources.

By 1983, three competitive bid lease sales, involving a total of 7.2 million acres of NPR-A, had been held. As oil prices have dropped, interest from the oil companies has lessened and leases have expired. Prior to 1999, the last oil lease sale was in 1984, but was cancelled when no bids were entered. As of 1993 there were only two bids covering 19,388 acres. 

The Interior Department, through USGS, continued exploration of NPR-A into the 1980s. Past naval explorations and those conducted by USGS resulted in the discovery of oil at Umiat and Cape Simpson, and several gas fields, including Walakpa, Gubic, and Point Barrow. The North Slope Borough is developing the reserves in the Walakpa field to provide gas for heating and electrical generation for Barrow. The borough plans to drill up to eight wells to produce the gas. 

Data gathered indicates NPR-A may contain recoverable reserves of 1 .85 billion barrels of crude oil and 3.74 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Such optimistic data fueled the bidding in the 1999 lease sale. BP Exploration and ARCO Alaska won interest in 87% of the leases. The bidding totaled $105 million.

Sources and Suggested Readings

Brown, Tricia. The Alaska Almanac. Facts about Alaska. 1999. Alaska Northwest Books. 

Naske, Claus-M and Slotnick, Herman. Alaska. A History of the 49th State. 1987. University of Oklahoma Press. 

Ritter, Harry. Alaska’s History The People, Land, and Events of the North Country. 
1993. Alaska Northwest Books. 

National Perks Conservation Organization, Alaska’s National Parks: Conflict, Controversy and Congress. 2000 Press release on Environmental Media Service’s website, www.ems.org.

Contributing Authors

Kassie Siegel, Scott Thomas, and Claudi Hoefle