You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
alternatehistory.com
The North Slope petroleum and gas fields were discovered in 1968, but there was major controversy over how to get the petroleum and natural gas out. Following the 1973 Energy Crisis there was a big push to increase domestic petroleum production, and development approval for Prudhoe Bay and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline were fast tracked. The production from the field was so massive that the United States actually had a secondary peak in petroleum production in the late 1980s.
Of course, by the time Alaskan production came online and the fields peaked, the 1980s petroleum glut was occurring, and it wasn't worth as much as it could have been. By the 1980s climate change was also starting to become a concern.
What might have happened to Alaska's petroleum industry without the Energy Crisis? Would Prudhoe Bay have eventually been developed?