Alaska’s oil boom changed the economy of Alaska. Thousands
of jobs were created in this time period to not only work on the drilling rigs,
but also build and maintain the pipeline. This incredible phenomenon began in
1968, when a 9.6 billion barrel oil reserve in Prudhoe Bay. Early explorers and
natives had noticed that parts of the shore were soaked by natural oil seeps. Big
companies began drilling along the north slope, but weren’t making much
progress. However, on their last hole, they found copious amounts of usable
commercial oil and thus oil production boomed. Although it took years of deliberation
and regulation, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System was final constructed in June
of 1977 after struggling with the idea since 1969. Valdez is where the pipeline
ends, which impacted it greatly. The population boomed and grew during the
building of the pipeline, but after it was finished, Valdez’s jobs and
population decreased.
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