Editing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (section)

{{Short description|Alaskan oil pipeline system}}
{{redirect|Alaska Pipeline|the proposed natural gas pipeline from Alaska to Alberta|Alaska gas pipeline}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox pipeline
| name        = Trans-Alaska Pipeline System
| type        = Pump stations
| map         = Trans alaska international.jpg
| map_caption = Location of trans-Alaska pipeline
| country     = [[Alaska]], United States 
| coordinates = {{coord|70|15|26|N|148|37|8|W|type:landmark_region:US-AK | display=inline,title}}
| photo       = Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Luca Galuzzi 2005.jpg
| caption     = The trans-Alaska oil pipeline
| operator    = 
| owner       = [[Alyeska Pipeline Service Company]]
| partners    = {{Plain list|
* [[BP]] (1970–2020)
* [[ConocoPhillips]] (1970–present)
* [[ExxonMobil]] (1970–present)
* [[Hilcorp]] (2020–present)
* [[Koch Industries]] (2003–2012)
* [[Unocal]] (1970–2019)
* [[Williams Companies]] (2000–2003)
}}
| length_mi   = 800.3
| discharge   = {{convert|2.136|e6oilbbl/d|m3/d|abbr=unit}}
| diameter_in = 48
| direction   = North–South
| start       = [[Prudhoe Bay]], [[Alaska]]
| finish      = [[Valdez, Alaska]]
| est         = {{start date and age|1977}}<ref name=piglfol>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8cdVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3512%2C5094502 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=UPI |title='Pig' leading flow of oil in pipeline |date=June 20, 1977 |page=1A}}</ref><ref name=hnsof>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=h1ZOAAAAIBAJ&pg=4733%2C784844 |work=[[Spokane Daily Chronicle]]|location=Washington|agency=Associated Press |title=Hot North Slope oil flowing |date=June 20, 1977 |page=1}}</ref><ref name=vcaofo>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x6NVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3868%2C7062865 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=Associated Press |title=Valdez celebrates arrival of first oil |date=July 29, 1977 |page=1A}}</ref>
| through     = {{Plain list|
* [[Deadhorse]]
* [[Delta Junction]]
* [[Fairbanks]]
* [[Fox, Alaska|Fox]]
* [[Glennallen]]
* [[North Pole, Alaska|North Pole]]
}}
| par         = {{Plain list|
* [[Dalton Highway]]
* [[Richardson Highway]]
* [[Elliott Highway]]
}}
| pumping_stations_no        = 12
| pumping_stations           = 
}}

The '''Trans-Alaska Pipeline System''' ('''TAPS''') is an oil transportation system spanning Alaska, including the trans-Alaska [[Petroleum|crude-oil]] [[Pipeline transport|pipeline]], 12 [[Pumping station|pump stations]], several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the world's largest pipeline systems.  The core pipeline itself, which is commonly called the '''Alaska pipeline''', '''trans-Alaska pipeline''', or '''Alyeska pipeline''', (or '''the pipeline''' as referred to by [[Alaska]]n residents), is an {{convert|800|mi|km|0|adj=on}} long, {{convert|48|in|m|2|adj=on}} diameter pipeline that conveys oil from [[Prudhoe Bay]], on Alaska's [[Alaska North Slope|North Slope]], south to [[Valdez, Alaska|Valdez]], on the shores of [[Prince William Sound]] in southcentral Alaska. The crude oil pipeline is privately owned by the [[Alyeska Pipeline Service Company]].

Oil was first discovered in Prudhoe Bay in 1968 and the 800 miles of 48" steel pipe was ordered from Japan in 1969 (U.S. steel manufacturers did not have the capacity at that time). However, construction was delayed for nearly 5 years due to legal and environmental issues. The eight oil companies that owned the rights to the oil hired [[Bechtel]] for the pipeline design and construction and [[Fluor Corporation|Fluor]] for the 12 pump stations and the Valdez Terminal. Preconstruction work during 1973 and 1974 was critical and included the building of camps to house workers, construction of roads and bridges where none existed, and carefully laying out the pipeline right of way to avoid difficult river crossings and animal habitats. Construction of the pipeline system took place between 1975 and 1977. It was important for the United States to have a domestic source of oil to offset the high rise in foreign oil and the Alaska Pipeline fulfilled that obligation.

Building oil pipelines in the 1950s and 60s was not difficult in the [[contiguous United States]]. However, in building the Alaska Pipeline, engineers faced a wide range of difficulties, stemming mainly from the extreme cold and the difficult, isolated terrain. The construction of the pipeline was one of the first large-scale projects to deal with problems caused by [[permafrost]], and special construction techniques had to be developed to cope with the frozen ground. The project attracted tens of thousands of workers to Alaska due to high wages, long work hours, and paid-for housing, causing a [[boomtown]] atmosphere in [[Valdez, Alaska|Valdez]], [[Fairbanks]], and [[Anchorage]].

The first [[Barrel (unit)|barrel of oil]] traveled through the pipeline in the summer {{nowrap|of 1977,<ref name=piglfol/><ref name=hnsof/><ref name=vcaofo/><ref name=arcjun>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1a1VAAAAIBAJ&pg=6909%2C169514 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=wire services |title=Tanker casts off with load of oil |date=August 2, 1977 |page=3A}}</ref>}} with full-scale production by the end of the year. Several notable incidents of oil leakage have occurred since, including those caused by sabotage, maintenance failures, and [[bullet]] holes.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Verhovek |first=Sam Howe |date=2001-10-06 |title=Pipeline Crews Tackle Huge Oil Spill Caused by Shooting |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/06/us/pipeline-crews-tackle-huge-oil-spill-caused-by-shooting.html |access-date=2023-06-07 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> As of 2015, it had shipped over {{convert|17|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil.<ref>2016 Fact Book, p. 71</ref> The pipeline has been shown capable of delivering over two million barrels of oil per day but nowadays usually operates at a fraction of maximum capacity. If flow were to stop or throughput were too little, the line could freeze. The pipeline could be extended and used to transport oil produced from [[Arctic Refuge drilling controversy|controversial proposed drilling projects]] in the nearby [[Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]] (ANWR).