Oil that came out of the cold. [Alaska]

Alaska has reached its optimum production rate of 1.5 million bpd, comparable to Kuwait, Nigeria, Libya, and Abu Dhabi. The field called Prudhoe Bay is estimated to have reserves of 9.7 billion bbl oil and 670 billion cu m of commercial gas. It is entirely possible that the Beaufort Sea deposits will be of similar size. The leases must be granted by both the State of Alaska and the Federal government. The potential of the Beaufort Sea is illustrated by the estimate that the lease sale might bring the State of Alaska $2 billion. However, some experts consider it improbable that the Beaufort Sea reserves will be comparable to those of Prudhoe Bay. Modern recovery methods promise a recovery factor of 40% of the oil in place at Prudhoe Bay. A pipeline for the associated gas is under discussed.