Trade Publication Article

TAPS After Forty Years

Wells, Garrison

2017

Overview

To be sure, there's the massive economic impact of an 800-mile, 48-inch diameter pipeline that transports crude from North America's largest oilfield, Prudhoe Bay. At its peak, the pipeline pumped more than 2 million barrels of oil a day over Alaska's tough terrain: frozen ground, mountain ranges, rivers, and earthquake faults. \"Four decades of oil and gas development in Alaska have changed Alaskan lives and provided opportunities for people across the state. From 1969 through 1977 alone, 70,000 individuals worked on the huge construction project, from engineers and carpenters to construction workers. Dan is supply chain management director and Ron is the system's pipeline and civil maintenance coordinator and works mostly in the field. The 213,543-acre oilfield triggered actions by multinational oil companies, Alaska, and Congress that resulted in the construction of the 800-mile pipeline to funnel crude oil from the North Slope to Valdez, the state's northernmost ice-free port. \"The initial vote was a 49-49 tie with Vice President Spiro Agnew casting the tie-breaking vote to approve the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act,\" Riddle says. \"Should heat transmitted from the hot oil pipeline or any ground surface disturbance created by construction activities cause thawing of the underlying permafrost soils, have been installed to protect against the cold, which allows water in the crude to separate. A recent order by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that calls for more input in North Slope oil and gas development from local and state entities should help.

• Publisher: Alaska Business Monthly
• Subject: Construction / Crude oil / Design / Earthquakes / Employment / Engineers / Gas industry / Governors / Indian claims / Landowners / Natural gas utilities / Permafrost / Pipelines / Presidents / Seismic engineering