ExxonMobil in Alaska: Alaska: It’s an old story to G.P. veterans who pioneered in America’s newest state

The only thing new about Alaska as far as the Mobil companies are concerned is the Territory’s newly-won status as the 49th state.

True, there is a renewed interest in exploration there by General Petroleum. True, there is a new storage terminal under construction at Ketchikan, but this is all part of doing the job. We’ve been there before, we’re there now, and we plan to be there in the future. We’d like to find some oil there, too, and who wouldn’t?

General Petroleum is busy, for it holds leases on nearly 100,000 acres in southern Alaska — about 50,000 on the Kenai Peninsula near another company’s discovery, and 50,000 more near the mouth of the Kuskokwim River. The company is actively exploring several areas in Alaska.

Back in 1925 and 1926 General Petroleum made an effort to find oil at Yakataga Beach, which was described by one of the members of the drilling crew as a place “where wonderful things happen and where men are men and hardships are taken with a smile.”

General Petroleum’s venture into this wild country in those days stretched over a period of two years because of many difficulties — the weather, of course, terrain and mechanical problems. At any rate, the company’s well, Sullivan No. 1, became a 2,005-foot dry hole and the basis of many tall tales which have become taller with the passage of time.

One of the veterans of both years was Arthur W. Titus, who retired in 1957 as a division superintendent in General Petroleum’s production department. Titus was a tool dresser on both expeditions and became quite an expert on the region.

Several years ago he went back to Yakataga and was asked to act as a guide and “spotter of landmarks” from aboard ship because of his knowledge of the region. He had in mind one particular arm of land which poked out into Icy Bay near Yakataga. He located the familiar Malaspina Glacier and knew he was close. He looked and looked for the landmark, but finally had to admit defeat. Apparently years of constant hammering by the elements had worn the arm away and it was no more. Titus, “the Alaska expert,” took merciless ribbing from his friends for the disappearing landmark.

Some of the original members of that expedition are still in the industry or have retired recently. In addition to Titus, there are Carroll Wagner, now General Petroleum director of exploration; Max App, retired General Petroleum vice president and director of production; Bill Pettingell and R.M. (“Slim”) Zufall, both still with General Petroleum; Jack Samuelson, formerly with General Petroleum.

Samuelson recalls hardships experienced with the expedition, both aboard ship trying to get to the drill site, and at the site itself.

“At Yakutat, 120 miles north of Juneau, we departed from the comforts of a modern steamer in exchange for the halibut boat Sunwing. This was a 50-foot gas boat which was purchased because chartered boats refused to tackle the ice. She proved to be one of the best buckers that could be found any place.”

The experience left a lasting impression, for Samuelson remembers every detail of the harrowing trip.

“Under a chilly moon and a freezing wind, the party left Yakutat headed for Icy Bay, a very appropriate name for the place. After a night of bad weather and every man willing to contribute his part to the feeding of the fish, morning found us heading into a bay completely covered with icebergs, little ones and others bigger than skyscrapers.

“This was in the first part of May and we were locked out by the ice, with the only hope that a westerly wind and an outgoing tide would scatter the ice so that a few leads could be found where the strong little craft and the scow she was towing would be able to wiggle into Mud Bay to unload the freight and men.”

The scow hauled some freight and was to serve as a lifeboat if the need arose.

“God only knows what would have become of us if we had had to abandon the ship and use the scow,” Samuelson says, “because no one calls in that isolated spot except pioneers looking for oil.”

“A southeast wind with rain and snow continued to blow for six days. We had to find shelter on the southeastern shores of Icy Bay; waiting, and a the same time keeping close watch on change of weather so that the ice would not drift over and lock us in if the wind should change to a westerly. A strip of ice lay along the upper shore less than two miles wide, and it alone separated us from Mud Bay and our destination.”

“On the sixth day the wind changed slightly, and orders were given to take a chance and break through, a task that looked rather impossible. The anchors on the boat and scow were lifted. We started into the ice, bucking, squeezing and squeaking, making very slow progress, sometimes heading for our destination and sometimes heading in the opposite direction trying to avoid some big icebergs we knew had the best of us.”

“The crews, ready with pike poles and axes, hacked and chopped at the imprisoning mass to cut a channel through to the landing place. The men chopped madly. The boat was forced to its limit for the wind had changed.”

“Then we all cheered as the last obstacle was reached — a final blow and shove sent us into the channel and landed us in Mud Bay. After days of waiting and fighting the mighty icebergs, the crews, tractors and oil field equipment were landed.”

“The little boat was sent back to Yakutat with its crew to fight the same ice and storms trip after trip until the hundreds of tons of equipment needed for the expiation were landed on the beach.”

“While the boat was making its dangerous trips, the men on shore were having their difficulties. Rivers had to be forded; miles and miles were traveled without roads or bridges.”

“Two years of the hardest drilling imaginable resulted in failure.”

“So the same problems had to be encountered again — in reverse — to remove the outfit. All of this for a dry hole.”

And, in spite of the hardships involved at old Sullivan No. 1, the men still have a sentimental attachment for it.

“I saw the rig, with the supports still standing, the last time I was up there,” Art Titus says. “I wanted to get a rope and give the whole works a big yank and let it fall. It looked kind of pitiful — barely able to stand up.”

Oil prospectors don’t give up. That’s why the Mobil companies are still hopeful in Alaska.