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Deadhorse
Deadhorse is known as the land base for
Prudhoe Bay offshore oil drilling, and lies 206 miles southeast of
Barrow and 625 miles north of Anchorage. It is 265 miles north of the
Arctic Circle. It lies at approximately 70° 12' N Latitude, 148° 31' W
Longitude (Sec. 19, T010N, R015E, Umiat Meridian). The community is
located in the Barrow Recording District. The area encompasses 29 sq.
miles of land and 3 sq. miles of water.
 Numerous
oil seeps on the arctic coastal plain sparked early interest in the
area's petroleum potential. The first drilling was done by the U.S. Navy
between 1944 and 1953. From 1963 to 1967, nine wildcat wells were
drilled by private companies, but no commercial quantities of
hydrocarbons were found. In July 1965, Humble Oil and Richfield Oil each
acquired state acreage by competitive bidding at three state lease
sales. In 1966 Atlantic and Richfield oil companies merged into the
Atlantic-Richfield Company (ARCo). Humble Oil later became part of
British Petroleum (BP). In 1967, the massive Prudhoe Bay oil field was
discovered. Application was made to the state and federal governments to
construct a hot-oil pipeline to Valdez, and construction on the pipeline
began in 1973. Deadhorse developed to house personnel, provide support
for drilling operations, and to transport oil down the pipeline. Since
completion of the pipeline in 1977 it has housed approximately 5,000
transient personnel, employees of oil companies and other support
services.
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