Oil & Gas

Oil and Gas Industry on the Kenai Peninsula

For each job in Alaska’s oil industry, there are 15 additional jobs in the Alaska economy connected to the industry. No other industry in Alaska comes close to the multiplier effect of the oil and gas industry. (McDowell Group: The Role of the Oil and Gas Industry in Alaska’s Economy, 2020)

Direct Primary Company Impacts Borough Wide

• A total of 852 Primary Company employees reside in the KPB, accounting for $206 million in total annual wage –
• Another 1,382 oil and gas support services employees reside in the KPB, with total annual wages of just under $100 million.

There are 28 producing oil and gas fields on the Kenai Peninsula and offshore Cook Inlet. This area has produced a cumulative total of over 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 7.75 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The largest oil field, the McArthur River field, is expected to recover 639,000 barrels of oil. The largest gas field, the Kenai field, is ultimately projected to produce 2.427 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Cook Inlet oil production peaked at 230,000 bpd in 1970 and fell to 8,900 bpd in FY 2010, before rebounding to over 15,000 bpd in 2016. (Alaska Department of Revenue)

Including all direct, indirect, and induced effects, the oil and gas industry accounted for an annual average of 4,607 jobs and total annual payroll of $405 million in the KPB.

• Economic activity related to the oil and gas industry accounts for approximately 19% of total KPB resident employment, and 23% of wages. (McDowell Group estimates based on BEA and Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development Data)
• The oil and gas industry paid $14.1 million in property taxes to the KPB in 2018, or 14% of total property tax revenues for the Borough. The industry also paid $199,526 in property taxes to the City of Kenai. (Alaska Taxable 2018, Office of State Assessor)
• Five of the top 10 property taxpayers in the KPB are oil and gas companies. In order of taxable assessed value, together, these five companies account for 18% of KPB’s total assessed value. (KPB Comprehensive Annual Financial Report 2018) Hilcorp Alaska LLC is #1; Furie Operating Alaska LLC (#2), Tesoro Alaska (now Marathon) (#3), Bluecrest Energy, Inc. (#4), and Alaska Pipeline (#8).