President's Message
David Wight, President and CEO

Great performance for TAPS in 2003

Looking back on 2003, it’s worth noting the strong performance our company delivered in the areas of safety and operational integrity. In the January edition of Alyeska Monthly, we told you about our improved safety record during the past year. With only eight U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reportable incidents and two lost time accidents in 2003, it was the safest year on TAPS since we started tracking this data.

While Alyeska should be applauded for this milestone, we realize there is still work to be done. The safety performance of our contractors remains an area of focus. When you combine the contractor totals with Alyeska’s, there is a substantial increase to 25 OSHA reportable incidents and 14 lost time accidents. Ultimately, our goal is to have nobody get hurt and to send everybody home safely each day.

As much as safety is a fundamental piece of our operating philosophy, we are ultimately in the business to move oil from Alaska’s North Slope to Valdez. It’s a relatively simple equation – yet it offers many challenges. There are many factors that can impact reliability. Some we can predict, such as maintenance schedules. Others – like weather patterns and earthquakes – are out of our control. Through careful planning we can minimize these factors and maintain a high rate of reliability. Which leads me to our next major accomplishment in 2003. For the first time in the history of TAPS we achieved 100 percent reliability for an entire year. This is a remarkable accomplishment. This means that we were able to manage all of the oil we received from the North Slope producers without impact on their production schedules. Alaskans should have confidence in our ability to meet the responsibility of delivering this valuable energy resource in an environmentally conscious manner.

Our workers take great pride in their work and they should be extremely proud of their efforts. This sends a clear message that Alyeska Pipeline is delivering on its promise of safely and efficiently transporting oil.