NEW YORK, July 21 - Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the main conduit for Alaska's oil, will likely ship less crude than normal in the near future following summer maintenance, pipeline operator Alyeska and oil traders said Tuesday.
TAPS, as the 800-mile pipeline is known, is shipping 460,000 barrels per day and should increase that to 600,000 bpd on Wednesday, following maintenance over the weekend, Alyeska spokesman Matt Carle said Tuesday.
That level is still well below TAPS' average volume. Before TAPS underwent two 36-hour maintenance periods over the past month, it was shipping around 750,000 bpd. It has averaged about 700,000 bpd this year, a third of the peak volumes of 2.1 million bpd reached in 1998.
TAPS' volumes may remain near 600,000 bpd in the near term, Carle said. He declined to say when volumes could return to typically higher levels.
TAPS is shipping less oil as Alaska's reserves and production decline, U.S. fuel demand falters during a recession, and oil producers in Alaska take advantage of mild summer weather to carry out maintenance.
"Maintaining that pipeline is a tough job," said Gene McGillian, oil analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. "It's not yet clear whether they are keeping levels low due to maintenance issues, or whether (Alaska) producers are waiting for higher oil prices to boost output."
TAPS is a major shipment point for oil to the western continental United States. It serves the BP-operated (BPL.N) Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska's North Slope region.
A 36-hour planned maintenance period idled TAPS starting on Saturday, Carle said. The pipeline has now undergone all of its planned maintenance for the 2009 summer season.
Alyeska's major owners have interests in Alaska's North Slope oil fields, including BP (BP.L), ConocoPhillips (COP.N), and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N). Unocal pipeline, a unit of Chevron (CVX.N), and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co also hold smaller stakes.
BP, Prudhoe Bay's operator, declined to comment Tuesday about oil field maintenance or its production levels in Alaska's North Slope. An Exxon spokeswoman referred questions to BP. Conocophillips representatives were not available to comment on Alaska operations.
Some U.S. crude oil traders said TAPS' lower volumes could signal a quickening of oil field decline in Alaska.
"This has likely to do with declining reserves," said one cash crude trader who requested anonymity.
But others expected TAPS volumes to bounce back soon.
"It's routine summer maintenance," another trader said, adding that he sees TAPS' shipments returning to 700,000 bpd by September. "Time will tell, I guess."
TAPS, stretching south from Prudhoe Bay to the seaport of Valdez, has transported more than 15 billion barrels of oil since its start-up in 1977.
In the last publicly disclosed deal, last Thursday, Alaska's North Slope crude ASW- dealt for the same price as West Texas Intermediate oil WTS-. WTI futures for August delivery settled 74 cents higher at $64.72 a barrel on Tuesday.
TAPS, as the 800-mile pipeline is known, is shipping 460,000 barrels per day and should increase that to 600,000 bpd on Wednesday, following maintenance over the weekend, Alyeska spokesman Matt Carle said Tuesday.
That level is still well below TAPS' average volume. Before TAPS underwent two 36-hour maintenance periods over the past month, it was shipping around 750,000 bpd. It has averaged about 700,000 bpd this year, a third of the peak volumes of 2.1 million bpd reached in 1998.
TAPS' volumes may remain near 600,000 bpd in the near term, Carle said. He declined to say when volumes could return to typically higher levels.
TAPS is shipping less oil as Alaska's reserves and production decline, U.S. fuel demand falters during a recession, and oil producers in Alaska take advantage of mild summer weather to carry out maintenance.
"Maintaining that pipeline is a tough job," said Gene McGillian, oil analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. "It's not yet clear whether they are keeping levels low due to maintenance issues, or whether (Alaska) producers are waiting for higher oil prices to boost output."
TAPS is a major shipment point for oil to the western continental United States. It serves the BP-operated (BPL.N) Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska's North Slope region.
A 36-hour planned maintenance period idled TAPS starting on Saturday, Carle said. The pipeline has now undergone all of its planned maintenance for the 2009 summer season.
Alyeska's major owners have interests in Alaska's North Slope oil fields, including BP (BP.L), ConocoPhillips (COP.N), and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N). Unocal pipeline, a unit of Chevron (CVX.N), and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co also hold smaller stakes.
BP, Prudhoe Bay's operator, declined to comment Tuesday about oil field maintenance or its production levels in Alaska's North Slope. An Exxon spokeswoman referred questions to BP. Conocophillips representatives were not available to comment on Alaska operations.
Some U.S. crude oil traders said TAPS' lower volumes could signal a quickening of oil field decline in Alaska.
"This has likely to do with declining reserves," said one cash crude trader who requested anonymity.
But others expected TAPS volumes to bounce back soon.
"It's routine summer maintenance," another trader said, adding that he sees TAPS' shipments returning to 700,000 bpd by September. "Time will tell, I guess."
TAPS, stretching south from Prudhoe Bay to the seaport of Valdez, has transported more than 15 billion barrels of oil since its start-up in 1977.
In the last publicly disclosed deal, last Thursday, Alaska's North Slope crude ASW- dealt for the same price as West Texas Intermediate oil WTS-. WTI futures for August delivery settled 74 cents higher at $64.72 a barrel on Tuesday.
