Before revision: What sparked the sudden interest for this phenomenon was the discovery of oil near Alaska ’ s northern coastlines, and two related factors: 1) the prospect that oilfields could abound in these waters, and 2) a consideration that submarine pipelines would be involved in future production developments, as this appeared to be the most practical approach to bring this resource to the shore.
After revision: What sparked the sudden interest for this phenomenon was the discovery of oil near Alaska ' s northern coastlines, and two related factors: 1) the prospect that oilfields could abound in these waters, and 2) a consideration that submarine pipelines would be involved in future production developments, as this appeared to be the most practical approach to bring this resource to the shore.