Face to Face
Art Mitchell
Chief Financial Officer

As chief financial officer of Alyeska Pipeline, Art Mitchell manages the company’s cash flow, including all commercial activities and financial results reporting. He has responsibility for business functions including accounting, business and strategic planning, commercial, information technology and internal audit. He is also on Alyeska’s retirement and trust committee.

Mitchell has worked in the industry since joining BP in 1972. He moved to Alaska in 1985 and joined Alyeska in 1997, after a brief stint as a loaned employee from BP. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from South Carolina State University and a master’s in business administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Rutherford, New Jersey.

“I like working with the people at Alyeska,” Mitchell said. “They are extremely cooperative and helpful in working through solutions to improve our company. I also like Alyeska’s safety culture and the fact that we operate vital infrastructure that helps meet our nation’s energy needs.”

Q: How will Alyeska’s pipeline modernization project, called strategic reconfiguration, impact the financial department?

A: Strategic reconfiguration will simplify the infrastructure needed to move oil down the pipeline. It will, for example, reduce the number of workers needed to operate pipeline pump stations. The financial department will, in turn, require fewer resources to maintain the pipeline’s financial infrastructure.

Q: What is ORACLE and how will it impact the company’s future?

A: ORACLE is the financial software system we use to capture accounting, financial and management information relating to pipeline operations. This data is used for everything from making management decisions to satisfying regulatory and financial reporting requirements. We began installing ORACLE in 2002 and continued to install additional modules throughout 2003. Last year was a challenge because parts of the system did not operate at full capacity. We enhanced the system in 2003/2004 and now consider ORACLE to be a highly capable system.

Q: What is Alyeska’s biggest challenge during the next few years?

A: Alyeska has an extremely talented and dedicated workforce that operates a safe and reliable pipeline system in a difficult environment. Our challenge is to adjust this organization to handle pipeline strategic reconfiguration and other changes that may take place at the Valdez Marine Terminal. We must maintain our high operating standards by giving workers the training, knowledge and resources they need to keep the pipeline working smoothly for the next 30 years. I’m sure our employees are more than capable of handling this challenge and I’m proud to be a part this advancement.