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lands on the North Slope using the standard Alaska Competitive
Oil and Gas Lease Form No. DL-1 (DL-1 Leases).
In 1964, 1965, 1967, and 1969, using the DL-1 Leases, with
Exxon, Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO), British Petroleum (BP), and
other oil and gas companies, Alaska entered into the particular
oil and gas leases covering the portions of the Prudhoe Bay oil
field that are involved in these cases. The terms of the DL-1
Leases extended for 10 years subject to being renewed by the oil
companies as long thereafter as oil or gas is produced “in paying
quantities”.
In December of 1967, Exxon and ARCO discovered a large oil
and natural gas reservoir at an exploratory well that had been
drilled on one of their jointly owned Prudhoe Bay leases. The
reservoir, named “Sadlerochit”, after the Eskimo word for “area
outside the mountains”, was and remains the largest oil and gas
reservoir ever discovered on the North American Continent.
As of 1967, the reservoir was estimated to contain 23
billion barrels of oil in place and 42 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas. Over its projected 30- to 50-year productive life,
the Sadlerochit Reservoir was projected to produce from 13 to 14
billion barrels of liquid hydrocarbons, approximately 60 percent
of the original oil in place.
Within the Prudhoe Bay field, the Sadlerochit Reservoir
extends approximately 30 miles east to west and 13 miles north to
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Last modified: May 25, 2011