This year marks Alaska’s 40th anniversary of the Trans Alaska Pipeline Systems (TAPS)—an 800-mile-long crude oil route that runs from the North Slope to Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in North America. However, Alaska’s declining oil output in recent years has not only stretched the state’s budget, it has also added a challenge to the functioning of the pipeline—decreased throughput means the pipeline is now about three-quarters empty, and crude oil flows are slower. The peak of oil flow through the pipeline was at 2 million barrels per day in 1988. Last year, throughput was 517,500 bpd, a 1.8-percent increase from 2015. This was the first annual increase since 2002, but still a far cry from the days of peak flow. Pipeline operator Alyeska is adding heat to keep the crude oil warm and to prevent water from freezing in the line. It also uses so-called cleaning pigs to […]