Face to Face
Jim F. Johnson
Pipeline Manager
Published November 2003

Jim Johnson is a long-time Alaskan who has lived in Southcentral, Southeast and Interior Alaska. He joined Alyeska’s staff in 1980.

Johnson is responsible for overall pipeline and pump station operations and maintenance. It’s his job to know the answers to critical pipeline questions: “Is oil flowing? If not, why not? And what needs to be done to keep everything working smoothly?”

Q: Alyeska is updating the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). This process, called “strategic reconfiguration,” should increase operating efficiency at the same time it protects health and safety. What impact do you expect this change to have on day-to-day pipeline operations?

The plan is still being formed, so we can’t know its exact impact. But strategic reconfiguration should reduce the pipeline’s overall complexity and infrastructure.

Pump station electrification would be the single biggest change. Planners want to automate pump station functions and eliminate the need to maintain what are essentially mini-cities complete with sewer and other utility systems in the middle of the wilderness. Removing these living and work facilities would drastically reduce equipment needs at pump stations. Less equipment means reduced air emissions, decreased risk of equipment fuel or lubricant spills and fewer pieces of machinery that need to be maintained.

Automating pump stations would reduce operating costs without degrading environmental or worker health and safety. It would eliminate support equipment that could break, leak or injure workers. And automated equipment, remote sensors, communications links, backup equipment and emergency systems provide safety margins that would ensure TAPS continued safe and reliable operation.

Q: How would strategic reconfiguration impact staffing?

The base plan, which is still being refined, would reduce pipeline maintenance and operations staff by about half. Fewer maintenance personnel would be stationed in the field, but the existing line-wide maintenance team would be augmented to provide backup support and perform preventative maintenance. These changes should not reduce pipeline reliability.

Q: Why change successful pipeline operating procedures?

The pipeline is 26 years old. There have been spot applications of new and improved technologies, but no system-wide equipment upgrades. Most of the equipment that actually moves oil is vintage 1977. These old systems aren’t as efficient or reliable as modern systems. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to replace parts needed to maintain existing equipment. Consequently, it is getting more expensive to reliably operate the pipeline by simply maintaining the existing system. It’s time to upgrade to a new system that takes advantage of technological improvements and that would work safely and efficiently for years to come.