Alaska Beat

What's TAPS's minimum flow rate?

According to the Juneau Empire, Department of Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin told the House finance Committee that he believes the minimum flow rate of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System to be less than the 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) that is commonly mentioned. He says that he agrees with Alyeska Pipeline Services Co. that the current system was designed for that rate of flow, but that the pipeline could operate with much less, even as little as 100,000 bpd. A spokeswoman for Alyeska said that the company has never said that the system couldn't operate at flow rates lower than 300,000 bpd, but that the number represents the flow rate beneath which the company anticipates "significant issues," which include freeze-ups and wax build-up Read more here.

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