TAPS throughput totals increase year-over-year for first time since 2017
The volume of oil moved through the Trans Alaska Pipeline System in 2022 increased over 2021 totals, marking the first calendar year-over-year increase since 2017.
In 2022, the 45th year of TAPS operations, workers moved 176,446,377 barrels, averaging 483,415 barrels per day. That was an increase of nearly 6,000 barrels daily over 2021; in 2021, daily throughput averaged 477,798 from the annual total of 174,396,146 barrels. The 2022 totals were also higher than 2020, when daily throughput averaged 480,199 from the annual total of 175,752,654 barrels.
The throughput increase is positive news for Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the TAPS operator, as well as TAPS Owners and the State of Alaska. It also reflects the innovative work of Alyeska staff and TAPS contractors in the face of declining flow; exciting activity on Alaska’s North Slope; and support for Alaska’s oil and gas industry’s work.
“The best long-term solution for safe and sustainable TAPS operations is more oil, so this increase is a notable milestone,” said Betsy Haines, Alyeska’s Interim President. “It’s also a positive for Alaskans and our state’s economy. We are all encouraged by discoveries and development on the North Slope, and supportive of an external environment that fosters responsible resource development, creates future throughput increases for TAPS, and strengthens our state and country.”
In 2022, Alyeska celebrated the 45th anniversary of TAPS operations following the pipeline’s June 20, 1977, startup. At the close of 2022 operations, the cumulative total of barrels moved by TAPS since startup was 18,539,689,449.
The pipeline had recorded annual throughput declines since 2017, when the daily average was 527,323. 2016 marked the first year-to-year increase of TAPS throughput since 2002, which was the last year daily throughput was above 1 million barrels. Find historic TAPS throughput totals at www.alyeska-pipe.com/historic-throughput/.