The majority of North Slope infrastructure is financed, constructed, and maintained by private entities to support their oil exploration and production activities. Despite North Slope explorers and operators always having an eye on efficiency, some infrastructure (such as processing facilities) isn’t well suited for sharing among multiple companies. However, other infrastructure does lend itself to common use, such as roads and pipelines.
New projects on the North Slope, such as Pikka, could ensure that the Trans Alaska Pipeline System rarely drops below half capacity for the foreseeable future.
Public policy issues that threaten to decrease oil production alarm us, because we go to work every day with the simple goal of making sure Alaskans benefit from our stewardship of safely operating the line.
The pipeline is still in fundamentally sound shape and has a few maintenance properties that would be remarkable if it was an old car: the pipeline requires a smaller maintenance staff to keep it running than it used to, and it’s gotten safer and less leaky as it has aged.
In January 2018, the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) projected that after an enduring economic recession, things were beginning to look up for the oil and gas sector.