One of the most productive areas in the world for oil remains rich in the resource, according to the latest USGS assessment. The USGS estimates 3.6 billion barrels of oil and 8.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas conventional resources in Alaska’s Central North Slope. This assessment does not include discoveries made by industry between 2013 and 2017.
“Alaska is synonymous with energy, and this assessment just reinforces that,” said USGS Director Jim Reilly. “The State of Alaska and its industry partners have responsibly produced billions of barrels of oil from Prudhoe Bay, and we think there are still billions more in this region that can be produced.”
The assessment consists of six assessment units that range from significant oil resources to significant natural gas resources. Although the USGS assessed this region in 2005, increases in geologic knowledge and understanding of the rocks and resource potential allowed the USGS to focus more specifically on the six assessment units included in this estimate.
Alaska’s Central North Slope has long been known to be rich in oil and gas resources. The assessment area hosts most of the producing oil and gas fields in Arctic Alaska, and the 800-mile-long Trans-Alaska Pipeline spans most of the region.
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Image via USGS.