Claims on petroleum seeps in the Cape Simpson area were first made in 1915 by a group consisting of T.L. Richardson, W.B. Van Valen, O. Hansen, B. Panigeo and Egowa after these last two, Eskimos, pointed out two large mounds fifty feet high and 200 feet in diameter. Gold prospectors Smith and Berry also discovered these seeps and formed an investment group in San Francisco led by R.D. Adams, who funded an investigation led by the geologist H.A. Campbell. His report noted disputing claims by Standard Oil Company. This led to the establishment of the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 in 1923, after which the Navy engaged the United States Geological Survey to survey the area from 1923 until 1926, who concluded the best objectives were Cretaceous rocks. From 1943 until 1953, the Navy drilled eighty wells, including the area at Cape Simpson and Umiat but none flowed more than 250 barrels per day.