A Thirty-Year Journey

June 20th, 1977 marked the start up of Alaska’s North Slope oil industry with the first oil entering the trans-Alaska pipeline. It took a monumental construction effort to reach that point. Over the course of three years, following passage of the Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act in 1974, over 70,000 people would contribute to the effort. Many turned these construction era jobs into decade’s long careers with the company.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company was formed to design, build, operate and maintain the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. Design engineers faced many challenges including the stability of permafrost and the three faults along the pipeline route. One of these, the Denali Fault, registered a 7.9 earthquake in 2002. The pipeline withstood the earthquake, with minor damage, much the way the original design team intended. The pipeline also needed to cross three major mountain passes and 34 major rivers and streams.

The scenery along the pipeline route is magnificent, rivaled only by the picturesque route the tankers transit through Prince William Sound. The pipeline is arguably one of the most photographed pipelines in the industry and has graced the scrapbooks of many visitors to the state. It’s been the subject of many documentaries over the course of 30 years, most recently featured on the PBS series American Experience. Many of the incidents the company has faced end up as national news headlines.

The operations milestones that have been achieved are easy to quantify yet difficult to fully grasp. Over 15 billion barrels of oil have been transported via the pipeline. Over 19,000 tankers have taken the oil to market. At the height of North Slope production, the pipeline was transporting over 2 million barrels of oil per day. Current throughput is approximately 800,000 barrels per day.

Each decade has presented challenges to the company with the current challenge being the operational issues associated with operating at lower throughput ranges. Company engineers are studying these issues and will present technical solutions to help mitigate these challenges.

The company will recognize the 30-year anniversary of the start up of the system with employee and community events. The focus on anniversary activities will be on Alyeska’s employees and contractors – a dedicated workforce on the job every day of the year.