Brigham McCown Named President of Alyeska Pipeline
Brigham A. McCown is the next president of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.
McCown is the second company president hired as an Alyeska employee following Vice Admiral Thomas Barrett, USCG (Ret.), who was brought on in January 2011 and is retiring.
McCown brings more than three decades of executive management, legal, and operational experience in the infrastructure and transportation industries. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of Nouveau Consulting where he advises on matters pertaining to federal security and safety regulations. He is also chairman and founder of the Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure, a non-partisan think tank leveraging innovation to improve infrastructure safety.
McCown has held several posts at the US Department of Transportation, serving as a direct report to both democratic and republican secretaries of Transportation including service as the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) first deputy administrator. In 2013, he retired from the US Navy after twenty-five years of combined active and reserve service as a naval officer and naval aviator.
Outgoing president Admiral Tom Barrett, who will work with McCown during a transition period in January, stated, “I have known Brigham for many years and I share Alyeska’s Owners’ confidence in his excellent fit as Alyeska’s next president and in his ability to lead the organization. I am equally confident in the proud and talented TAPS people, whose dedication to safety, protecting our environment, operational excellence, reliability, efficiency and innovative work will carry TAPS operations into the next forty years and beyond.”
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May 2024
“Brigham brings a deep and varied range of experience in the regulatory realm to Alyeska, including a sharp focus on operations and an unwavering commitment to safety,” said Jerry Frey, president of ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and chair of the TAPS Owners Committee. “We are confident in his leadership skills, which have been proven in many unique arenas, and in his ability to keep Alyeska and TAPS moving forward during this exciting time for Alaska’s oil and gas industry. Brigham has a high level of enthusiasm for working in Alaska, on the iconic and critical infrastructure of TAPS, and with the men and women of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.”
“TAPS Owners and Alyeska leaders are grateful to Tom Barrett for his extraordinary leadership,” Frey said. “In his tenure, he built community partnerships, strengthened Alyeska’s culture, advanced the company’s safety record and expanded the focus on ethics, compliance, diversity and innovation. Tom led a transformative shift in Alyeska’s business and maintenance strategy. His leadership and initiatives will have a lasting impact on the company, on TAPS sustainability, and on Alaska.”
With nine years of service as Alyeska president, Barrett is the longest tenured of any Alyeska CEO/president in the company’s forty-nine-year history. During his time at Alyeska, the organization celebrated its 35th and 40th anniversaries; 17 and 18 billionth barrel moved; increased throughput for the first time since 2002; and numerous safety, environment, and compliance honors. Under Barrett, the organization evolved and innovated to successfully tackle numerous operational and external challenges.
Making History
The track of oil and gas development in Alaska shows the footprints of bold companies and hard-working individuals who shaped the industry in the past and continue to innovate today. The May 2024 issue of Alaska Business explores that history while looking forward to new product development, the energy transition for the fishing fleet, and the ethics of AI tools in business.