Oil-industry base camp at Galbraith Lake, in the North Slope Borough of Alaska. An updated assessment estimates 3.6 billion bbl of oil and 8.9 tcf of natural gas are technically recoverable from Alaska’s Central North Slope. The assessment, released Jan. 23 by the US Geological Survey (USGS), is for undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in conventional accumulations in the assessment area. The 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 […]