THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA 79 
 
Beaver Creek No. 1 blew out, bridged itself while blowing out of control,
and was abandoned. Only seven exploratory holes were drilled on the Kenai
Peninsula. Pennzoil Co. drilled two wells offshore at Cape Starichkof in
lower Cook Inlet. The wells were abandoned after tests of noncommercial oil
shows. 
 On the west side of the Inlet, five dry holes resulted from exploratory
drilling on upland locations and two wildcat wells drilled in offshore waters
were plugged and abandoned. On the North Slope, Atlantic Richfield Co. plugged
and abandoned the Susie Unit No. 1 drilled to 13,517 feet. Union Oil Co.
of California also was unsuccessful with the Kookpuk State No. 1 drilled
to 10,193 feet which was located south of the Colville River Delta. Both
of these wells were spudded during 1966. Also on the North Slope, Atlantic
Richfield spudded Prudhoe Bay No. 1 on the flats south of the Beaufort Sea
in far northern Alaska. The well was drilling at yearend. On the Alaska Peninsula,
Cities Service Oil Co. drilled Painter Creek No. 1 south of Ugashik Lakes
to 7,912 feet; it was plugged and abandoned. 
 The increase in total drilling (66 percent) over the previous year was attributable
entirely to development drilling. Total development footage, reflecting the
intense activity which took place from permanent offshore platforms, was
3.4 times that of 1966 and was more than the total footage for all drilling
in 1966. Texaco Inc., drilled one successful gas development well at Nicolai
Creek on the west side of Cook Inlet. The Nicolai Creek No. 3 was bottomed
at 8,841 feet. 
 In the Middle Ground Shoal Unit, Shell Oil Co. completed the placing of
a second platform and began drilling from the new setup late in the year.
Pan American Petroleum Corp. got into production on their platform in the
unit. At the close of the year four platforms, including pipeline facilities
to shore, were in operation on the Middle Ground complex. 
 Both Mobil Oil Corp. and Pan American Petroleum Corp. began production from
their respective platforms at Granite Point; by the end of the year, production
from the three offshore facilities had reached 42,325 barrels of oil a day.
Thus, the Granite Point field became the top producing unit in the State.
Pan American moved its oil south via an underwater 
pipeline in Cook Inlet to loading facilities at East Foreland. Mobil's production
moved via the Drift River pipeline 42 miles to tanker loading facilities
at the Drift River terminal. 
 During the first part of the year a part of the Trading Bay producing structure,
including the previously known McArthur River field, was unitized with Union
Oil Co. of California designated as unit operator. Three separate platforms,
two of which were erected during 1967, operated within the Trading Bay unit.
Union was operating the Grayling Platform in the McArthur River field, Marathon
Oil Co. produced from the Dolly Varden platform in the Dolly Varden field,
and Atlantic Richfield Corp. ran the King Salmon platform on what had been
a part of the Trading Bay field. The part of the Trading Bay structure not
included in the unitized agreement was known as the Trading Bay field. Here
production from Union's monopod began to reach shore early in the year. In
the unitized section, Union got its Grayling platform pumping oil in October.
Marathon and Atlantic Richfield had drilling underway on the Dolly Varden
and King Salmon platforms; there was no production from these units. Total
Trading Bay output from both the unitized and monopod operations of Union
was 727,085 barrels from an average of nine wells. 
 Cook Inlet Pipeline Co., a combine of Union, Mobil, Marathon, Atlantic Richfield,
and Cities Service, completed the 42mile Drift River pipeline and put it
into operation. At the north end the new line gathered oil from Mobil's Granite
Point platform. A tie-in just north of West Foreland provided transport service
to Union's monopod and Grayling platforms as well as to the King Salmon and
Dolly Varden installations of Atlantic Richfield and Marathon. Line and storage
fill-up began in January. The first tanker loaded at the Drift River terminal
during November. 
 Shipment of liquefied natural gas to Japan from the huge reserves on the
Kenal Peninsula and in Cook Inlet appeared assured with the completion of
contractual and governmental agreements. Upon completion of the agreements,
Marathon Oil Co. and Phillips Petroleum Corp. moved to contract for two 450,000-barrel
tankers to be built in Swedish shipyards. Marathon,