Effects of Alaskan North Slope Crude Oil and Continued Crude Oil Production at Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve

Alaskan North Slope crude oil is displacing some heavy, sour foreign crude oil imports into the West Coast because of similar qualities and yields. Middle East crude oil imports show a downward trend in that region, and the North Slope's production of crude oil improved the balance of payments by an estimated $1.3 billion during 1977. However, because of limited refinery desulfurization capacity, the West Coast refining industry cannot process all available North Slope crude oil, and this oil will not displace light, sweet foreign crude oil imports into the West Coast in the short term.