Arctic Oil: Photographs of Alaska's North Slope introduces readers to a remote region north of the Arctic Circle. Only the Native peoples who lived there for centuries and the small workforce that keeps Alaska s mammoth oil fields producing had previously known the area. Judy Patrick s photographs now bring this secret corner of the world to the public eye. Images of ice roads and ice islands built for winter exploration lie next to images of year-round production complexes hauled north by barge, and page turns reveal the faces of roughnecks on drill rigs. The melding of pristine Alaska and modern industry in each image make this book is a unique and intriguing compilation. Taken over two decades, these photographs showcase Alaska s North Slope oil industry from the massive Prudhoe Bay field to the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and beyond. Few people beyond those who work there get to see what Alaska s oil industry looks like, but Alaskan photographer Judy Patrick brings it to life for those of us who will never make the trek north.

"Nothing has changed Alaska as swiftly or as traumatically as the discovery of oil. In Extreme Conditions: Big Oil and the Transformation of Alaska, Pulitzer Prize-winner John Strohmeyer writes a riveting account of how it all happened. From the icy North waters, Strohmeyer takes the reader to the inside world of post-oil Alaska and shows what tumultuous changes--for good and bad--this gusher of money and influx of people have had upon America's last great frontier. The enduring relevance of this work makes it indispensable reading in understanding the current tensions among environmentalists, businesses, and Natives that characterize Alaska today."--Back Cover.

Presents a history of the Alaskan oil industry, revealing political corruption, the FBI's investigation, and how these events will influence American politics.

In 1969, an icebreaking tanker, the SS Manhattan, was commissioned by Humble Oil to transit the Northwest Passage in order to test the logistical and economic feasibility of an all-marine transportation system for Alaska North Slope crude oil. Proposed as an alternative to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the Manhattan made two voyages to the North American Arctic and collected volumes of scientific data on ice conditions and the behavior of ships in ice. Although the Manhattan successfully navigated the Northwest Passage—closing a five-hundred-year chapter of Arctic exploration by becoming the first commercial vessel to do so—the expedition ultimately demonstrated the impracticality of moving crude oil using icebreaking ships. Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil details this historic voyage, establishing its significant impact on the future of marine traffic and resource development in the Arctic and setting the stage for the current oil crisis.