Oil Boom

The oil boom brought many jobs and a much needed infrastructure to Alaska which helped to increase the states overall population. the oil boom started in 1968 with the discovery of a huge 9.6 billion barrel oil reserve in Prudhoe Bay. Thomas Simpson noticed in 1836 during a coastal survey that some parts of the Canadian Arctic shore were soaked by natural oil seeps, that the natives would use as fuel to heat their homes. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System applied to the U.S. Department of the Interior in June 1969 to build an 800 mile long heated pipeline that would connect Prudhoe Bay to tidewater at Valdez on Prince William Sound. the pipeline was actually constructed, with many difficulties, June 20, 1977. One of the most impacted towns in Alaska was Valdez, which started with a population of about 1,200 and during the boom reached 69,633 people. After building the pipeline the town of Valdez's oil jobs went down and so did the population.