|
Timeline for Hydrocarbon and Other
Events in Cook Inlet and Global
|
| 1788 |
Captain
Cook voyaged into Cook Inlet; |
| 1850's |
Russian explorers discovered oil seeps on the Iniskin Peninsula - West side of Cook Inlet; |
| 1900 |
Exploratory
wells were drilled, one encountered oil; |
| 1917 |
World
War I; |
| 1939 |
World
War II - foundational infrastructure in support of war effort; |
| 1951 |
Sterling
Highway completed, connecting Kenai Peninsula to Alaska road system; |
| 1954 |
Standard
Oil and Union Oil begin exploration on Kenai Peninsula; |
| Secretary
of Interior allows multiple use of Kenai Moose Range (now Kenai
National Wildlife Refuge); |
| 1955 |
National
environmental groups oppose multiple use of wildlife refuges, ranges; |
| Legislature
passes first oil tax; |
| 1956 |
Secretary
of Interior declares moratorium on oil & gas leases in federal
refuges-includes Kenai Moose Range; |
| 1957 |
Swanson
River oil field discovery-Richfield Oil Company-predecessor to
Atlantic Richfield Company, ARCO; |
| 1958 |
President
Eisenhower signs Alaska statehood bill, July 7; |
| BLM
opens North Slope for competitive bidding;
Portion of Kenai Moose Range reopened for development; |
| 1959 |
Alaska
becomes 49th state of the United States of America, William Egan sworn
in as first governor; |
| First
major gas discovery-Union Oil/Ohio Oil (Marathon)-Kenai gas
fields-still producing. Largest in Cook Inlet; |
| First
state lease sale in Cook Inlet Basin, 77,000 acres, $4 million; |
| First
and largest commercial gas discovery in Cook Inlet at Kenai Field; |
| 1960 |
Pipeline
built to Anchorage market; 1st Alaska pipeline-Swanson River to
Nikiski Beach by Richfield Oil Corp -Standard Oil; |
| Construction
of Collier Chemical Plant, later sold to UNOCAL, then sold to Agrium; |
| 1961 |
Swanson
River oil field production begins - Richfield; Kenai gas field
production begins - Ohio Oil; |
| State
legislature increases personal income tax, taxes on liquor,
cigarettes, motor fuel due to budget deficit; |
| 1962 |
First
offshore oil discovery - Pan American Petroleum - Middle Ground Shoal; |
| First
west side oil - Beluga River - Standard Oil; |
| Pan
American discovers Middle Ground Shoal, first off shore field in Cook
Inlet Basin; |
| Standard
Oil broke ground for first Alaskan refinery- became Chevron; |
| Ohio
Oil Co changes name to Marathon Oil in celebration of 75th
anniversary; |
| 1963 |
Chevron
oil refinery begins operation in Nikiski; |
| 1964 |
Pan
American discovers North Cook Inlet gas field; |
| Installation
of first Cook Inlet Platform, operated by Shell, the first company to
pay royalty taxes in Alaska; |
| 1965 |
McArthur
River - Union Oil - Largest oil field - 48% of Cook Inlet's 1.2
billion barrels produced; |
| Union
Oil discovers Granite Point and Trading Bay oil and gas fields in Cook
Inlet; |
| 1966 |
Thirty-six
exploration wells drilled in Cook Inlet, all time high; |
| Union
Oil installs first monopod, Cook Inlet Trading Bay, and platform to
produce McArthur River oil field; |
| 1967 |
Production
began for first Cook Inlet Platform; |
| Marathon
discovers Beaver Creek gas field on Kenai Peninsula; |
| Cook
Inlet production begins at Middle Ground Shoal, MacArthur River,
Trading Bay and Granite Point; |
| Cosmopolitan
Unit (Oil) drilled by Pennzoil; |
| 1968 |
Opening
of UNOCAL plant, largest fertilizer plant on west coast, using Cook
Inlet gas; |
| 1969 |
Phillips/Marathon
LNG plant complete, production begins, only LNG plant in North
America, exports to Japan; |
| Construction
of Tesoro-Alaska Refinery Corporation facility complete, production -
17,500 barrels per day; |
| 1970 |
Cook
Inlet Basin oil production peaks at 225,000 barrels per day; |
| 1973 |
Vice
President Agnew breaks tie vote as Senate President to approve
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act; |
| Arab
Oil embargo causes gasoline shortage in U.S.; |
| 1974 |
Trans-Alaska
Pipeline construction begins. 800
miles, original estimates of $900 million; |
| 1975 |
Tesoro
began production of several grades of gasoline; |
| 1976 |
Tesoro
constructs pipeline from Nikiski refinery to Anchorage airport and
port; |
| Constitutional
amendment established Alaska Permanent Fund - to receive "at
least 25%" of petroleum royalties; |
| 1977 |
First
federal lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet; |
| Trans-Alaska
Pipeline completed. Largest
construction project ever undertaken by private industry; |
| First
deposit into Alaska Permanent Fund - $734,000; |
| 1978 |
Union
Oil increases size of Nikiski fertilizer plant, becomes largest West
Coast fertilizer producer by 1979; |
| 1979 |
Gas
discoveries - Cannery Loop and Pretty Creek; |
| Iranian
revolution causes second oil embargo, resultant supply shortage; |
| 1980 |
Alaska's
personal income tax repealed; |
| 1982 |
Alaskans
receive first Alaska Permanent Fund dividend check - $1,000; |
| 1983 |
Tesoro
expands capacity to 72,000 barrels per day; |
| 1986 |
Saudi
Arabia increases oil exports, U.S. crude falls from $24 to $12 per
barrel, then below $10; |
| 1987 |
1985-1987
- Recession - nearly one in ten jobs disappear from Alaska economy; |
| Tanker
spills 159,000 gallons of crude in Glacier Bay incident; |
| Steelhead
Platform explosion; |
| 1988 |
Alaska
economic woes lead to Anchorage losing 30,000 in population; |
| 1989 |
March
24 - Exxon Valdez tanker runs aground in Prince William Sound spilling
232,000 barrels of crude; |
| 1990 |
Iraq
invades Kuwait, beginning of Persian War resulting in $20 per barrel
of oil; |
| 1991 |
Sunfish
discovery by ARCO; |
| Chevron
closed due to marginal profitability and potential liability with
state's oil spill laws; |
| 1992 |
Proposed
federal lease sale of 3.7 million acres in Lower Cook Inlet. Blocked
by community pressures; |
| 1993 |
Largest
state lease sale - $65 million; |
| Tesoro
refinery begins producing clean gasoline, meeting EPA's 2007
standards; |
| 1994 |
Alaska
becomes largest oil producer for part of time, only time to beat
Texas; |
| 1995 |
Tesoro
began producing more value-added products.
Purchases crude, does not own any platforms; |
| 1996 |
Cook
Inlet gas production peaks at 223 Bcf per year; |
| Forcenergy
enters State, buys Marathon interest in McArthur River and Trading Bay
fields; |
| 1997 |
Fourth
federal lease sale in Lower Cook Inlet; Through 1997, 39 Cook Inlet
lease sales to date; |
| Reduced
federal lease sale, from 1992 blocked sale, 1 bidder, Forcenergy,
9,762 acres, $250,000; |
| 1998 |
February
- state lease sale 85A-W, 8 bidders, 24 tracts sold of 157; |
| 1999 |
Forcenergy
filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy; |
| Natchiq
Inc. ships first truckable modules from its site in Nikiski; |
| Marathon
begins production from new gas well in Sterling gas field; |
| 2000 |
Phillips
Petroleum purchases Arco Alaska; |
| British
Petroleum prepares for construction of experimental gas-to-liquids
plant in Nikiski; |
| Agrium
purchases Unocal fertilizer plant; |
| 2001 |
British
Petroleum's gas-to-liquids plant takes shape, prepares to begin
operations; |
| 2002 |
Preliminary
work begins on Unocal and Marathon's Kenai-Kachemak Pipeline; |
| ConocoPhillips
completes 1st well at Cosmopolitan prospect; |
| Unocal
shuts down Baker and Dillon platforms; |
| 2003 |
Kachemak
Kenai Pipeline, a $25 million project, is completed; |
| Unocal
finds gas at Happy Valley; |
| 2004 |
Unocal
and Marathon apply to drill exploration wells on southern end of
Peninsula; |
| Cosmopolitan
Unit - Conoco Phillips - drilled Hansen #1 well - oil- with
successful, though confidential results; |
| Middle
Ground Shoal-XTO continues operation & drilling, Unocal ceased
operations, stops production on 2; platforms; |
| Nicolai
Creek - Aurora Gas - NCU #3 ends gas production; |
| North
Fork Unit - GasPro/NorthStar/Alliance - renewed interest, nonbinding
contract with Enstar; |
| Redoubt
Unit - Forest Oil - Complicated field, reserve estimate reduced; |
| Trading
Bay Unit/McArthur River Field - Unocal - T.B.U. #K-13 came on line,
highest rate of any Cook Inlet well; |
| Agrium
announces closure at the end of 2005 due to inability to locate
economical sources of natural gas; |
| 2005 |
Agrium
announces it will remain open for another year, until November 2006; |
| Agrium
announces a feasibility study to study coal gasification as a source
of feedstock to keep plant operating; |
| Marathon
finds gas in Cook Inlet's West Fork Tyonek; |
| Three
Mile Creek gas discovery by Aurora, West side of Cook Inlet; |
| Tesoro
partners with Flint Hills Resources Alaska to refine low sulfur fuel,
may temporarily employ hundreds; |
| Potential
development of Pebble Mine northwest of Iliamna emerges with copper,
gold, molybdenum deposits; |
| Hurricanes
Rita and Katrina destroy 113 platforms in Gulf of Mexico; |
| Possible
settlement between Beluga Pipe Line Co. and Aurora Gas LLC re:
pipeline tariffs, bi-directional flow; |
| 2006 |
Governor
reaches agreement for gas pipeline, legislature fails to pass
contract; |
| Aurora
gas drills first oil exploration well in Cook Inlet, not economical,
plugged, abandoned; |
| Alaska
Permanent Fund value tops $34 billion; |
| BP
GTL plant continues operation beyond planned testing; |
| Pogo
gold mine begins operations; |
| Agrium
shut down in January due to residential demands, again from October 23
to March 1 of 2007; |
| Chevron
announce plans to keep recently purchased Cook Inlet Unocal
properties, plans to develop/produce; |
| AK
Division of Oil & Gas approves Marathon plans to develop gas
storage within the Kenai Gas Field; |
| ANWR
power struggle - to open or not to open - that is the debate; |
| ConocoPhillips
applies to extend export license from 2009 to 2011; |
| Tesoro
announces plans to add hydro-treating facility to provide
ultra-low-sulfur diesel; |
| Duke
Oil & Gas enters Cook Inlet action with winning bids on two
leases; |
| Pebble
mine resource estimates continue to climb, debate over environmental
issues continue; |
| Escopeta
Oil receives Jones Act waiver, allows movement of jack-up rig on
foreign-flagged vessel between US ports; |
| Alaska
legislature passes revision of oil production tax; |
| Agrium
moves into Phase 2a of Blue Sky project feasibility study, if approved
could be operational by 2012; |
| Forest
Oil announces sale of Alaska assets. |
| 2007 |
|