Crude production at Prudhoe Bay fell sharply by 2009, raising fears that the Trans Alaska Pipeline System could stop operating and even clog from congealed waxy buildup. John Kurz left Alaska for overseas opportunities, later returning in 2023 to lead Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. Alaska has since attracted renewed oil industry interest and investment due to discoveries indicating greater crude potential than previously expected and more favorable policies. After taking office, President Trump directed changes to unlock Alaska’s oil, gas, and mineral resources. The Interior Department lifted Biden-era restrictions on drilling across much of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and is preparing to streamline permitting for oil projects there, despite long-standing environmental opposition.
"Crude production had plummeted to 567,000 barrels per day, barely more than a quarter of the roughly 2 million barrels pumped daily at the field's peak two decades earlier. The decline stoked concerns that the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, built to carry the state's oil bounty to the continental US, might stop operating. Engineers even worried that slow-moving crude would congeal inside the pipeline, creating waxy buildup that could turn TAPS into the world's biggest tube of ChapStick."
"Kurz fled Alaska for more promising opportunities overseas, but he was beckoned back in 2023 to run Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., overseeing the same pipeline whose future had looked so bleak 14 years before. He's not the only one. Alaska has seen a resurgence of oil industry interest - and investment - driven by discoveries suggesting the state's crude potential is far greater than previously expected and helped by more accommodating policies from the Trump administration."
"Hours after his inauguration, Trump signed an order directing a suite of changes aimed at unlocking more of Alaska's oil, gas and mineral riches. His Interior Department has lifted Biden-era restrictions barring drilling across much of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and is now drawing up plans to streamline permitting for oil projects in the territory. The efforts risk overturning decades of opposition from environmentalists who've fought to prevent industrial oil development in the territory, which spans roughly 23 million acres in northwest Alaska."
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