PRUDHOE BAY

small inlet of the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean, indenting the north coast of Alaska, U.S., and lying 200 miles (320 km) east-southeast of Point Barrow. The bay has been the centre of drilling activities since the discovery of vast petroleum deposits on Alaska's North Slope in 1968. The trans-Alaskan oil pipeline, which links the area to Valdez, an ice-free port on Prince William Sound (Pacific Ocean) 800 miles (1,300 km) to the south, has led to the rapid growth of the settlement of Prudhoe Bay.