A HISTORY OF OIL EXPLORATION IN ALASKA (1898-PRESENT ...

A HISTORY OF OIL EXPLORATION IN ALASKA
(1898-PRESENT)

from Petroleum News

Roderick, Jack, 1997. Crude Dreams.
Epicenter Press, Fairbanks, Seattle.
Miller, D.J. et al., 1959, Geology of
Possible Petroleum provinces in Alaska:
USGS Bulletin 1094.
Wolf, Lisa (ed.), 1997, Katalla to Prudhoe Bay.
Petroleum News - Alaska, 97 p.
King, R.W., 1994, Without hope of immediate
Profit. Alaska History, 9(1):18-36.
Jessup, D.E., 2005, The rise and fall of Katalla:
The coming metropolis of Alaska. Alaska
History, 20(1):24-41.
Sweet, J.M., 2008, Discovery at Prudhoe Bay - Oil.
Hancock House Publishers, 304 p.
Miller, E.A., 2006, Alaska’s First
Miller, E.A., 2006, Alaska s First
Home-Grown Millionaire – Life and Times
of Cap Lathrop. Publication Consultants, 2 nd
Edition.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION

INISKIN PENINSULA –WEST SIDE OF COOK
INLET
Wells drilled on the Iniskin Peninsula
(data from Miller et al., 1959 and Alaska
Prospector, Valdez newspaper)
Company Year Total Depth
Alaska Petroleum Co. 1 1900?, 1902‐1903 1,050+ ft.
Alaska Petroleum Co. 2 1904 450 ft.
Alaska Petroleum Co. 3 1904 900 ft.
Alaska Petroleum Co. 4 1906? ‐‐
Alaska Oil Co. 1 1902 600+ ft.
Alaska Oil Co. 2 1903 ‐‐
Iniskin Drilling Co.
I.B.A. 1 1938‐1939 8,775 ft.
Iniskin Unit Operator
Inc. Beal 1 1954‐1955 9,745 ft.
Alaska Consolidated Oil
Co.‐ Antonio Zappa No. 1 1958‐1961 11,231 ft.
The goal of the Havenstrite’s effort was to reach
the Upper Triassic (based on favorable signs his
geologists saw at Puale Bay), but they never
succeeded in getting below the Lower Jurassic
Talkeetna Formation.

OIL SEEPS ON THE INISKIN PENINSULA LEAD
TO EARLY EXPLORATION
Oil seeps in Well Creek and
Bowser Creek area, Iniskin
Peninula, west side of Cook
Inlet
Martin and Katz (1912), USGS Bulletin 485 report:
“First indications of oil were said to be taken from this
area by a Russian named Paveloff in 1882.
Claims were subsequently saked in 1892 by Edelman from
Kenai. His claim was at the head of the creeks entering Oil
and Dry bays, but were subsequently abandoned.
In 1896 Pomeroy and Griffen staked claims at Oil Bay and
next year organized the Alaska Petroleum Company, which
began work in 1898. The Alaska Oil Co. was organized in
1901 and in 1902 began drilling at Dry Bay.
The first well at Oil Bay was begun in 1898 and is said to
been drilled to a depth of over 1,000 feet. Had good oil (50
barrels per day at 700 ft.) and gas shows, but no major
recovery. Several subsequent wells were drilled by both
companies.”

IBA #1 Well
Alaska Petroleum Company
oil derrick, Oil Bay (photo
from TW T.W. Stanton, USGS)
IBA #1 Well flowing 47 API Gravity oil

Alaska Petroleum Company, Iniskin Bay, in 1900 Census
Most of the workers appear to have arrived in Alaska on Sept 1899 stemming mostly from
Most of the workers appear to have arrived in Alaska on Sept. 1899, stemming mostly from
Fort Wayne, Indiana ‐ working for August Bowser, who managed their field operations. The
Company was funded by investors from Fort Wayne, IN.

ALASKA PROSPECTOR, VALDEZ, AK, April 30, 1903, p. 1
‐ has best article on early oil development on Iniskin Peninsula
“In 1896, Ed. Eddleman of Kenai, while out
hunting along what is now known as Oil Bay,
… discovered d a spring of oil bubbling bbli out of
the ground. He staked the property, but never
kept up the assessment work, and finally let it
drop. A.N. Doty and John W. Rowland, who
were then of Seattle, …. Formed the Alaska
Petroleum Co. with a capital of $1,000,000.
This company chartered a schooner, loaded
her with provisions and machinery and
started for Oil Bay. The schooner ran into a
severe storm and save themselves the crew
were forced to over most of their cargo. That
was in 1898, and nothing could be done that
year, but the follow year Mr. August Bowser,
who took charge of affairs got together
another outfit and took that to the ground in
safety.”

RUSSELL HAVENSTRITE AND HIS HOLLYWOOD
INVESTORS IN HIS ALASKAN OIL OPERATIONS
Russell Havenstrite
Walt Disney
Walt and Roy Disney
Boris Karloff
Mae West
Other Hollywood luminaries financing the Alaska
oil ventures of Havenstrite included Darryl Zanuck,
Cecille B. de Mille, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and
Bing Crosby.
Hal Roach

Anchorage Daily Times,
March 18, 1958
Anchorage Daily Times, March 19, 1957

PUALE BAY (FORMERLY COLD BAY) AND LAKE BECHAROF REGION,
NORTHERN ALASKA PENINSULA
Reports of oil seeps known
on Oil Creek go back to the
mid‐1800’s , with reports by
Native Americans and Russians
Early field reconnaissance
carried out by Jake Lee and
“Cap.” Lathrop.
First drilling in “East Field”,
1902‐1904, followed by
Grammer No. 1 (1938‐1940)
And Bear Creek No. 1 (1957
‐1959) 1959).
“West Field”, drilled between
1923‐1926”
Last well drilled in region
was the Wide Bay #1 well
(1962‐1963)

OIL SEEPS ALONG OIL CREEK, PUALE BAY REGION

OIL SEEPS ALONG OIL CREEK, PUALE BAY REGION

OIL AND GAS SEEPS ARE PLENTIFUL IN THE PUALE BAY – KANATAK REGION

COSTELLO WELL NEAR OIL CREEK
“EAST FIELD” (JOHN H. COSTELLO OF BUFFALO, N.Y.)

EARLY OIL EXPLORERS IN THE PUALE BAY – KANATAK REGION
JACK LEE
AUSTIN “CAP” LATHROP
G. DALLAS HANNA
Paleontologist, Calif. Acad.Sci.

KANATAK – BOOM TOWN IN THE 1920’S
(maximum population was probably around 600)

OIL WELL (LEE NO. 1) IN THE “WEST FIELD”
PEARL CREEK DOME

USGS FIELD STUDIES RESULTED FROM KANATAK BOOM
USGS field party cooking breakfast from gas seep along Gas Creek

WIDE BAY UNIT NO. 1 WELL
Photo courtesy of Gil Mull

CROSS-SECTION OF “EAST FIELD”

UPPER TRIASSIC KAMISHAK FORMATION –TARGET FOR LATER EXPLORATION
IN THE PUALE BAY REGION

KATALLA FIELD (1902-1933)
SITE OF ALASKA’S FIRST COMMERICAL OIL PRODUCTION
From Jessup (1994)
From Roderick (1997)

DISCOVERY OF ABUNDANT OIL AND GAS SEEPS NEAR KATALLA LEAD TO ITS
EARLY EXPLORATION BY OIL PROSPECTORS
SEEPS FIRST RECOGNIZED AND
STAKED BY THOMAS WHITE, A
LOCAL RESIDENT IN 1896, WHILE
ENGAGED IN HUNTING A BEAR
OIL SEEP AT KATALLA, PHOTO TAKEN IN 1904 BY
R.W. STONE, USGS.

NUMEROUS OIL WELLS (28) DRILLED IN THE KATALLA FIELD, THE FIRST BY THE BRITISH
[44 WELLS DRILLED IN THE DISTRICT]
Cunningham No. 1 well
Discovery well ‐ 1901
Oil Tank

CHILKAT OIL COMPANY REFINERY ‐‐‐ Built in 1911 and destroyed by a fire
on Christmas Day, 1933

KATALLA – OIL BOOM TOWN
Katalla a at the height eg tof
its glory (1907) is estimated
to have had a population of
between five to ten
thousand. (Jessup, 2005,
p. 31)
Front Steet ‐ 1907

EVEN RAILROADS WERE CONSTRUCTED!
Two competing railroads were established in
Katalla in 1907 as result of the oil boom and interest in
nearby coal deposits in the Bering River coal field
and the copper deposits at Kennecott.
Robert Stroud, the “Birdman
of Alcatraz” lived in Katalla.
Shortly after leaving there, he
relocated to Juneau, where he
was involved in a murder which
resulted in his imprisonment

ALL CONSIDERING, PRODUCTION AT THE KATALLA FIELD
PROVED RATHER DISAPPOINTING
“During the 32‐year period from 1902 to 1933 the Katalla field produced
About 154,000 barrels of paraffin‐base oil having a gravity of of 41‐45 Bé.
Of the 28 wells drilled in the Katalla field, 18 in an area of about 60 acres
produced oil from fractured sandstone and siltstone of the Katalla formation,
at depths ranging from 360 to 1,750 feet. The field is believed to be in a fault
zone.” (from Miller et al., 1959, p. 47)
● The oil produced at Katalla was used only for local consumption in
the Gulf of Alaska at Cordova, Valdez, and Katalla.
● Production from a single day at Prudhoe Bay surpasses that from the
entire lifespan of the Katalla field.

OIL EXPLORATION CONTINUED SPORADICALLY
IN THE GULF OF ALASKA TERTIARY PROVINCE
AFTER 1933
PHOTO FROM GIL MULL
RICHFIELD BERING RIVER NO. 1 WELL ‐‐ 1961

COOK INLET OIL AND GAS FIELDS
Courtesy of Petroleum News

COOK INLET OFFSHORE WELLS
Platform Bruce
Granite Point Platform
View showing several platforms
in upper Cook Inlet
Refinery and LNG Plant at Nikiski

PRUDHOE BAY AND NEARBY FIELDS, NORTH SLOPE
Courtesy of Petroleum News

PRUDHOE BAY STATE NO. 1
DISCOVERY WELL
January 1968
February 1968
Both photos courtesy of Gil Mull

PRUDHOE BAY STATE NO. 1 (DISCOVERY WELL)
Drill Stem Test #2
Drill Stem Test #1
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY
OF GIL MULL
Well Head
Drill Stem Test #5 25,000 BOPD, Well test,Nov. 1969