Alaska’s Oil & Gas Industry

Alaska runs on oil.

Alaska’s North Slope has produced more than 17 billion barrels of oil since the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay oil field. Oil production has been the engine of economic growth in Alaska. It has funded up to 90 percent of the state’s unrestricted General Fund revenues in most years and has accounted for over $180 billion in total revenue since statehood. Even at today’s low oil prices, oil revenues account for approximately 67 percent of unrestricted General Fund revenues in FY 2017.

The oil industry accounts for one-third of Alaska jobs and about one-half of the overall economy when the spending of state revenues from oil production is considered (ISER, UAA study 2/2011). In other words, without oil, Alaska’s economy would be half its size. If the oil industry expands and prospers, so does Alaska’s economy. Read More at: http://www.akrdc.org/oil-and-gas#background