July 28, 2026: Eight Billion Dollars and 800 Miles

At any hour of the day or night during the mid-1970s, the Fairbanks McDonald's was packed with exhausted pipeline workers who had turned it into the second busiest location in the entire chain in the world.On July 28, 1977, the reason for all of it arrived at the marine terminal in Valdez, Alaska: the first barrel of crude oil to complete the full 800-mile journey through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay. The pipeline had cost $8 billion, employed more than 70,000 workers across the full project, and required three years of construction after five years of legal battles, its existence tracing directly to the October 1973 Arab oil embargo, which quadrupled the price of imported oil and turned a previously unviable Arctic oil field into the largest private construction project in American history. The Alaska Permanent Fund, established the year before oil began flowing, captured a portion of the windfall for long-term investment, and every Alaskan resident has received an annual dividend from it ever since. A geopolitical crisis aimed at the United States accidentally built a sovereign wealth fund for the people of Alaska.From bsnsHistory, the daily podcast about the moments when business quietly reshaped the world.Written and hosted by Ron Trucks. Research and editing by Rodney Russ. Sound design by Angela Cahoy. Music by Cody Martin and Soundstripe.For more daily business stories, visit www.bsnsDAILYpodcasts.com