In The Last Alaskan Barrel, the author analyzes whether Arctic Alaskan North Slope oil was worth the investment risk for the companies and shareholders that risked billions of dollars to make it happen. His results challenge universally held beliefs about exorbitant profits in Alaska. The Last Alaskan Barrel begins with abridged histories of Alaska and the oil age leading to exploration of the Arctic. In 1969, a year after the dramatic discovery of large oil deposits near Prudhoe Bay, a White House Cabinet Task Force commissioned by President Richard Nixon claims the nation is swimming in cheap Alaskan crude. An updated federal study just two months before the start of production in summer 1977 contradicts the earlier White House Cabinet Task Force. Over the next decades, oil prices, development costs, and a variety of taxes shrink the size of the prize. The book concludes with a glimpse at future oil and natural gas potential in Arctic Alaska. Through a combination of extensive research and personal experience, John M. Miller provides facts to challenge opinion. This book is a first-of-its-kind case study that calculates the profit from the largest petroleum development in North American history and how it was shared among the state of Alaska, the federal government, and oil companies. Today, petroleum is coming from more remote, costly, challenging, and government-controlled sources worldwide. Understanding the fifty-year investment life of Alaska North Slope oil finally brings unemotional clarity to the complex world of petroleum economics.
About the Author: For more than a decade, John M. Miller managed Alaskan megaprojects budgeted at billions of dollars, including the world's largest natural gas facility. He led an international team through early design of the first natural gas project offshore China and was managing director of ARCO Norway, Inc., a foreign subsidiary. After moving permanently to Alaska, he chaired the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Owners Committee, a board of directors that oversees the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. During John's 26-year career with the Atlantic Richfield Company, he handled long range planning, business development, operations, and project management in the western U.S., as well as Norway, Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering with Honors and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He has published research for NASA in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. He lives in Anchorage, Alaska with his wife. They have a grown daughter. A radio interview, list of speaking engagements, and more information are available at www.thelastalaskanbarrel.com