06.29.11

Sen. Murkowski: Increased Oil Production Crucial to Future of TAPS

"We cannot afford to let the pipeline die from the federal government's neglect"

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski today released the following comment on the release of the Alyeska Pipeline Co.’s Low Flow Impact Study on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline:

“This report clearly spells out the importance of finding and producing more oil to fill the pipeline if it is going to continue to operate consistently and provide the economic benefits the state and the country have come to rely on since 1977,” Murkowski said. “This is why I have been pushing so aggressively to remove the federal roadblocks that have delayed development in NPR-A and offshore in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. We cannot afford to let the pipeline die from the federal government’s neglect.”

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, completed in 1977, transported 2 million barrels of oil a day at its peak. The pipeline currently carries about 650,000 barrels a day from the North Slope oil fields to Valdez, where it is shipped to refineries on the West Coast.

The Alyeska study can be found here.