About ExxonMobil Alaska

Our history in Alaska spans almost a century since drilling our first well at Yakataga Beach in 1925. Since then, we have explored throughout Alaska including Cook Inlet, the Alaska Peninsula, St. George Basin, Norton Sound, Navarin Basin, Yukon Flats, Beaufort Sea and the North Slope.

Who We Are

ExxonMobil’s most important resource in Alaska is our people. For our operations, over 70 percent of the workforce consists of ExxonMobil employees based here in Alaska or local Alaskan contractors.

Meet Our Leadership

What We Do

ExxonMobil Alaska is one of the three largest oil producers in Alaska, the largest holder of discovered gas resources on the North Slope and the operator at Point Thomson. According to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, there are 50 billion technically recoverable oil-equivalent barrels yet to be discovered in Alaska as of 2016. These resources, including 25 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas resources at Prudhoe Bay, Point Thomson and other fields, could help meet Alaska’s in-state energy needs and could bring commercial volumes to the broader marketplace for generations to come.

Oil development

ExxonMobil and its co-venturers have been producing from Prudhoe Bay for over 40 years. An estimated 60 percent of the state’s remaining oil and gas resources are located there.  We continue to invest in drilling wells and new programs to enhance resource recovery, extend the life of the fields, and increase oil production in Prudhoe Bay and the other fields in which we participate in Alaska.

Gas development

ExxonMobil continues to work towards delivering Alaskan natural gas as a source of reliable and clean energy to global markets from development at Point Thomson and Prudhoe Bay. Development of these resources will provide a variety of benefits to Alaska, including new revenue, sustainable jobs, and business opportunities as well as facilitating new, long-term stable supplies of natural gas for Alaskans.

Point Thomson

Point Thomson is located on state acreage along the remote Beaufort Sea, 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay and 60 miles west of the village of Kaktovik. The Point Thomson reservoir holds an estimated 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 200 million barrels of natural gas condensate, a high-quality hydrocarbon similar to kerosene or diesel. The Point Thomson gas resources represent about 25 percent of known gas resources on the North Slope. Point Thomson, brought online in April 2016, has an initial design capacity to produce up to 10,000 barrels per day of natural gas condensate. A natural gas cycling facility removes this liquid condensate from the “wet” gas with the remaining gas then re-injected into the reservoir for future development. Condensate produced at Point Thomson is transported by a 22-mile pipeline to the Badami pipeline and further to the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

Learn more about Point Thomson.

Prudhoe Bay

In early 1967, ExxonMobil and its exploration co-venturer Atlantic Richfield Company began drilling the Prudhoe Bay State No. 1 discovery well, which turned out to be one of the most significant discoveries in the history of both Alaska and the United States. Today, the Prudhoe Bay unit contains the largest oil field in North America. Since production began from Prudhoe Bay in 1977, there have been more than 12 billion barrels of oil produced. Resources produced at Prudhoe Bay have been transported through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

ExxonMobil is the largest working interest owner at Prudhoe Bay, which is operated by BP. The Prudhoe Bay development includes more than 1,600 wells, 50 well pads, 1,300 miles of pipeline, seven major production separation facilities, a central gas facility, a central compressor plant, a central power station and a seawater-treatment plant.

Endicott

ExxonMobil is a co-venturer in the Endicott oil field, which is operated by Hilcorp and located in the Beaufort Sea, about 8 miles east of Prudhoe Bay. Discovered in 1978, Endicott is located 2.5 miles offshore in the Beaufort Sea and includes two man-made islands for drilling and production connected by an above ground pipeline to the mainland and the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. The Endicott Main Production Island started operating in October 1987 as the first offshore Beaufort Sea production system.

Kuparuk River Unit

ExxonMobil is an owner in the Kuparuk Unit operated by ConocoPhillips. Located west of the Prudhoe Bay Unit and discovered in 1969, the Kuparuk River Unit is the second-largest oil field in North America. The field began producing in 1981. Project infrastructure includes over 800 wells, three processing centers, 600 miles of surface pipeline, 41 drill sites, an operations center and industrial center, nine warehouses and a seawater-treatment plant.

Trans Alaska Pipeline System

The Trans Alaska Pipeline System cost more than $9 billion to construct and remains an impressive engineering feat to this day. The pipeline spans more than 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope to a marine terminal located at the port of Valdez on Alaska’s south coast. The system includes a 360-mile, all-weather highway from the Yukon River to Prudhoe Bay, eight pump stations, a pressure-relief station and the Valdez marine terminal.  More than 17 billion barrels of oil have been moved through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System since startup on June 20, 1977. ExxonMobil is an active co-venturer in the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.

ExxonMobil Alaska history

1921 — Exxon sets up a field office in Alaska

1925 — First Exxon Alaska well drilled

1959 — Alaska joins the Union, becoming the 49th state

1965 — Granite Point field discovered by Mobil

1966 — First ice-resistant platform installed at Granite Point

1967 — Granite Point production startup

1968 — Prudhoe Bay field discovery

1969 — Kuparuk field discovered

1975 — Trans Alaska Pipeline System construction begins

1977 — Trans Alaska Pipeline System completed and Prudhoe Bay production begins

1977 — Point Thomson Unit formed

1978 — Exxon conducts world’s largest ice-strength tests at Prudhoe Bay

1978 — Endicott field discovered

1981 — Kuparuk production startup

1984 — Exxon begins drilling in Norton Sound, Bering Sea, and Beaufort Sea with first use of Concrete Island Drilling System

1987 — Endicott production startup

1989 — Valdez oil spill

1993 — Point McIntyre production startup

1999 — Exxon and Mobil join to form ExxonMobil

2010 — ExxonMobil completes drilling and testing of two wells at Point Thomson

2012 — ExxonMobil completes a 3-year environmental permitting process and receives all required approvals to initiate construction at Point Thomson on the North Slope

2013 — ExxonMobil begins construction of Point Thomson infrastructure, including production facilities designed to produce and reinject (cycle) 200 million cubic feet per day of gas and up to 10,000 barrels of condensate per day, and a 22-mile pipeline that connects Point Thomson with the Trans Alaskan Pipeline System

2016 — ExxonMobil successfully brings Point Thomson into operation with facilities capable of producing up to 10,000 barrels per day of natural gas condensate