ARCO came earlier and stayed longer than other players in the Cook Inlet. The province opened up with Richfield's discovery of the Swanson River field in 1957. In the following ten years, the basin yielded 17 fields, seven of which have ultimate recoveries of greater than 100 MMBO or 1 TCF. The basin then suffered a dramatic decline in activity coincident with the discovery of oil on the North Slope. During the intervening twenty-five years, ARCO has maintained a staff presence, continuing to conduct field programs, acquire seismic and drill exploratory well. A major stratigraphic evaluation of the basin began in 1988. This work culminated in a multi-year drilling program beginning in 1990. The Sunfish discovery was the second well in this program. Since then, two confirmations have been drilled and three wells are currently drilling. With reserve estimates in the hundreds of millions of barrels, the Sunfish discovery may mark the beginning of a second cycle of exploration for the basin.

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