President's Message
Kevin Hostler, President and CEO

Integrity Management on TAPS

Mitigating risks to the pipeline, maintaining and improving our system, complying with laws and regulations, protecting the environment and moving oil safely—this is the basis of our Integrity Management Program (IMP). Since the March spill on the North Slope, the integrity of the energy transportation system has come under added scrutiny from a variety of stakeholders.

When I first arrived, I made a commitment to review our IMP. I wanted a holistic overview of integrity management to determine what we do, why we do it, and how well our program performs. This included taking a comprehensive look at how we monitor and maintain the system through corrosion prevention, leak detection and inspection technology.

On April 4th and 5th, Alyeska engineers participated in an IMP workshop with industry experts to share data, discuss best practices and examine pipeline integrity trends. We are using information from this timely workshop to further evaluate and improve our program. In the weeks and months ahead, we will have conversations internally and externally about our program.

We also hosted two staff members from the United States House Energy and Commerce Committee while they were in Alaska in April to learn more about the recent North Slope spill, how we run TAPS, and how our IMP works. Meetings with Alyeska’s Fairbanks engineering staff highlighted our comprehensive approach to integrity management, including pipeline operations, the terminal and Ship Escort Response Vessel Systems (SERVS).

As I learn more and more about our workforce capabilities and accomplishments, I become increasingly confident with our IMP. We have a comprehensive, systematic, and documented approach to integrity management, including corrosion monitoring and mitigation that is documented and audited internally and externally. These efforts will maximize the life expectancy of the asset and contribute to our goal of meeting or exceeding production goals and environmental standards.