ast side, west side, mid-channel, offshore, onshore, oil, natural gas, sometimes both… the variety of Cook Inlet fields is bewildering. Although the region contains more than twenty units on both state and federal leases, a dozen of them account for the bulk of production. Some are no longer producing; for example, Middle Ground Shoal (located between the Trading Bay and Kitchen Lights units) was the first offshore field in Cook Inlet in 1963, but its Baker, A, C, and Dillon platforms have been idle for years. The structures might be revived, however, for offshore wind energy.

Clip these cards and shuffle them whichever way makes sense. Rank them by production of barrels of oil (bbl) or by billions of cubic feet (bcf) of gas. Order them by rookie year. Arrange them as a map. Get to know the longest-running petroleum province in Alaska that gave the industry a foothold and that continues to power the state’s population center.