Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: from the Alaska North Slope to the Valdez Marine Terminal
Start-up Year: 1970
Length: 800 miles
Flow: 650,000 bpd
TransAlaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is the transportation system that moves crude oil from the Alaska North Slope to the Valdez Marine Terminal. The system includes 800 miles of 48-inch diameter crude oil pipeline, pump stations, communications sites, material sites, a work pad and access roads, and other related facilities. TAPS contributes approximately 13% of the nation\'s domestic oil production, reducing dependence on foreign reserves.
The pipeline and the related facilities are owned by, BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc. 46.93%, ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska Inc. 28.29%, Exxon/Mobil Pipeline Company 20.34%, Unocal Pipeline Company 1.36% and Koch Alaska Pipeline Company, L.L.C. 3.08%.
Oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 by Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and Humble Oil and Refining Company (now Exxon Company, U.S.A.) Subsidiaries of the two companies and British Petroleum Company entered into an agreement for a planning study and engineering design and construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Project. Plans were announced for an 800-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska in 1969. Five additional companies joined the original three and the owner companies incorporated Alyeska Pipeline Service Company to manage the pipeline in 1970. More than 16 billion barrels have moved through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System since startup. The volume of oil flowing through the pipeline has decreased from a peak of 2.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 1988 to about 650,000 bpd in 2010.
Operators:
BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc: Operator with 46.93% interest
ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska Inc: 28.29% interest
Exxon/Mobil Pipeline Company: 20.34% interest
Unocal Pipeline Company: 1.36% interest
Koch Alaska Pipeline Company L.L.C: 3.08% interest
Contractors:
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company: Design, construction, operation and maintenance of TAPS