First oil flows from Alaska reserve set aside in ‘23

NUIQSUT, Alaska (AP) — Oil has begun to flow from an Alaska reserve that was set aside nearly a century ago.

ConocoPhillips is the first oil company to draw crude from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

The area is the size of Indiana and was dedicated as an emergency oil supply for the U.S. Navy in 1923.

The site is in the wind-scoured, snow-covered tundra on Alaska’s North Slope.

A huge drilling rig first began pulling up oil in October, and at peak production will produce 16,000 barrels a day from the Colville-Delta 5 field.

It also will serve as a launch pad for another nearby fields in Alaska’s Arctic.

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PHOTOS: First oil flows from Alaska reserve set aside in '23

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