Nixon Signs Pipeline Act: Alaska Oil Flows to the Nation
President Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act on November 16, 1973, clearing the way for an 800-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast to Valdez, an ice-free port on Prince William Sound. The OPEC oil embargo, which had begun a month earlier, destroyed congressional resistance to the project. Construction employed 70,000 workers at its peak and cost $8 billion, the most expensive privately funded construction project in history at that time. Engineers designed the pipeline to survive earthquakes, permafrost expansion, and caribou migration routes. Oil began flowing on June 20, 1977. At peak production, the pipeline carried 2.1 million barrels per day, roughly 25% of total U.S. oil production. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound exposed the environmental risks that opponents had warned about.
November 16, 1973
53 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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