Oil country hot line

A significant milestone was reached on July 28, 2002, when the 25th anniversary of the first oil flow through the Trans-Alaska pipeline was marked. On that date in 1977, Alaska’s first commercial oil reached the port of Valdez. Four days later, the Arco Juneau departed from Valdez as the first supertanker to carry North Slope crude to market. Since then, more than 13.5 billion bbl of oil have traversed the pipeline. In 1977, Alaska’s population was roughly 410,000, compared to about 635,000 today. Concurrently, the state government’s budget has risen to $7 billion from $1 billion. Noting the silver anniversary of first oil, Washington D.C.-based Alyeska Pipeline Service executive Willie Hensley said that Alaska’s ability to function as a state would not be possible without North Slope oil. "In my mind, had Prudhoe Bay not been (found in 1968), we might have had to revert to territorial status." Before that, Alaska struggled on federal subsidies.