Why Is The Alaska Pipeline Controversy?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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As the pipeline reached peak flow in 1988 and began to decline, the oil industry increasingly argued that the Alaska Pipeline was not designed to transport small volumes of Arctic oil. The problem is that

when lower volumes of oil are shipped through the system, the oil moves more slowly

.

Who controls the Alaskan pipeline?

It's owned by four different oil companies, including three of Alaska's biggest:

BP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips

. Unocal Pipeline Co. owns slightly less than 1.5 percent.

Do people in Alaska get money from the pipeline?


As of 2019, the fund was worth approximately $64 billion that has been funded by

and has paid out an average of approximately $1,600 annually per resident (adjusted to 2019 dollars).

Is an Alaskan pipeline real?


The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska

, including the trans-Alaska crude-oil pipeline, 11 pump stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world's largest pipeline systems.

Where does the Alaskan pipeline begin?

The trans-Alaska pipeline carries oil 800 miles from

Prudhoe Bay

on the Arctic Ocean to the pipeline terminus at Port Valdez. There are formal viewpoints with information boards at Milepost V 216 (Denali Fault), Milepost V 243.5, and the Tanana River Pipeline Crossing at Milepost V 275.5.

Where does the oil from Alaska pipeline go?

The crude oil that flows down the 800-mile pipeline is picked up by tankers in the port of Valdez. According to state officials, the bulk of the crude is transported to

West Coast refineries

. A group of oil companies paid for the pipeline to be built in the late 1970s at a cost of $8-billion.

How many times has the Alaskan pipeline leaked?

Trans-Alaska's safety record:

18 oil spills in 20 years

There have been 18 breaches of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the last 20 years, according to data from the Pipeline Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA). Spills have ranged from less than one barrel to 6,800 barrels.

Why is the Alaska pipeline above ground?

More than half the pipeline runs above ground

so that the hot oil does not melt the permafrost that is prevalent along the route

. In those areas, the pipeline is elevated on 78,000 refrigerated vertical support members. Construction of the pipeline project began in April, 1974 and finished in June, 1977.

Is the Alaska pipeline still in operation?


The Trans-Alaska Pipeline today has been recognized as a landmark engineering feat

. It remains essential to Alaska's economy. The Prudhoe Bay field was discovered in March 1968 by Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) and Exxon 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Is the Alaska pipeline still functioning?


The pipeline continues to function normally

and several oil tankers have used the terminal since the spill was first reported, about a week ago.

How much oil is left in Alaska?

Rystad Energy estimates Alaska's remaining recoverable oil reserves to be

23.3 billion barrels

of oil and condensates.

How much does a gallon of milk cost in Alaska?

State Cost
Alaska


$3.78
Arizona $1.98 Arkansas $2.99 California $2.69

How much do you get paid to live in Alaska per month?

Alaska runs a program called the Alaska Permanent Fund, which, per the state website, allots an equal amount of the state's oil royalties to every resident through an annual dividend. In 2018, that dividend came out to

$1,600 per person

.

How much money has the Alaska pipeline made?

Pipeline operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Company said

$145 billion

in revenue from North Slope crude oil has been raised for Alaska. Free capital spending, drilling & production forecasts – 2019 Guidance with the Daily Oil Bulletin. The pipeline hit the 17 billion barrel mark five years ago, officials said.

Do we get oil from Alaska?


The Arctic Alaska (onshore) province is endowed with original oil reserves of 16.4 billion barrels and a discovered total of 70 billion barrels of oil in place

. The Arctic Alaska (onshore) province produces about 1.5 million barrels per day and accounts for nearly 25 percent of all current U.S. daily oil production.

Who owns Prudhoe Bay?

Prudhoe Bay is operated by

BP in Alaska

. The working interest owners include: BP, 26 percent; ConocoPhillips, 36 percent; ExxonMobil, 36 percent; Chevron, 1 percent.

Where is Alaska oil refined?

Most of the oil produced in Alaska is sent to refineries in

Washington and California

. Tankers transport most of the oil produced in Alaska to refineries in Washington and California.

Why is the Alaska pipeline not straight?


Engineers built the pipe in a zigzag configuration, which converts the lengthwise expansion into a sideways movement

. Wider zigzags were added in the Denali Fault area to anticipate earthquake movement. If it were not for the zigzags, the 800-mile pipeline would have only been 789 miles long.

What does the Alaska pipeline carry?

Trans-Alaska Pipeline, in full Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, pipeline that

connects the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska, U.S.

, with the harbour at Valdez, 800 miles (1,300 km) to the south.

Are there refineries in Alaska?


Alaska has three refineries

that produce gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel for Alaska markets. Refineries are located in Nikiski, Valdez, and North Pole.

Who owns the oil in Alaska?


ConocoPhillips

is Alaska's largest crude oil producer and largest owner of exploration leases, with approximately 1.6 million net undeveloped acres at year-end 2021.

Does Alaska have more oil than Saudi Arabia?

Alaska is about the same size as Iran,

four-fifths as big as Saudi Arabia

, and huge portions of the state consist of mountain ranges where drilling is impossible. The EIA estimates that about 10.4 billion barrels of oil can be recovered from ANWR, just over a year of American consumption.

What country has the most oil?

# Country Oil Reserves (barrels) in 2016 1 Venezuela 299,953,000,000 2

Saudi Arabia

266,578,000,000
3 Canada 170,863,000,000 4 Iran 157,530,000,000

What is the purpose of the Keystone pipeline?

What Is Keystone XL? The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to

transport the planet's dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to market—and fast

.

How long would the oil in ANWR last?

At the most optimistic estimates, drilling in ANWR would maintain 110,000 existing jobs and provide 170,000 new jobs. Assuming the USGS mean estimate from its 1998 study, the amount of recoverable oil would have “a production period of

nearly 40 years

” (Parnell and Sullivan 203).

Is the Alaska pipeline heated?

The lines are warm to the touch and even warmer to the wallet — at current prices, about $30 million worth of crude flows through the station daily.

Alyeska heats oil at Pump Station One to 100 degrees Fahrenheit

, with a goal of keeping it above 37 degrees by the time it reaches the export terminal at Valdez, Alaska.

David Evans
Author
David Evans
David is a seasoned automotive enthusiast. He is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering and has a passion for all things related to cars and vehicles. With his extensive knowledge of cars and other vehicles, David is an authority in the industry.