President's Message
David Wight, President and CEO

2004 Year in Review

It is the end of the year, time to evaluate Alyeska’s 2004 performance. Our bottom line standards are always safety, operational integrity and regulatory compliance. Through November we moved more than 300 million barrels of oil through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), and we expect that number to reach about 330 million barrels by year end.

TAPS’ reliability rate through November was 99.38 percent. This number represents the impact of pipeline operations on North Slope oil production. So far this year TAPS has accommodated 99.38 percent of North Slope crude without impacting oil producers’ production schedules.

This number is impressive, especially when you consider the major maintenance and upgrade projects we are implementing as part of our strategic reconfiguration. This modernization project is upgrading the 27-year-old pipeline so that it will continue to operate safely and efficiently for decades to come. We are also doing preliminary engineering work to reconfigure the Valdez Marine Terminal.

Pipeline reconfiguration should improve the economics of Alaska oil, making it more competitive in global markets. Our workforce realizes the importance of this project and is performing extremely well. I thank them for their commitment to maintaining operational excellence without compromising safety, environmental responsibilities or regulatory compliance.

We continue our efforts to keep work area’s safe following last year’s all-time record safety performance. During the first 11 months of 2004 Alyeska had only nine U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration reportable incidents and two Days Away From Work Cases. Our approximate 850 workers have not missed a day of work because of a workplace safety incident since Feb. 24, 2004. In other words, no Alyeska workers have sustained an injury serious enough to miss work in almost 1,250,000 work hours, often doing dangerous jobs in extreme Alaska conditions.

We are proud of this safety record but will not be satisfied until we send every worker home safely every day.