Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. has reorganized its Alaska operations to shift more personnel and resources closer to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) it operates.
Most employees will be at either the Anchorage corporate office or two asset-based business units in Fairbanks and Valdez. A number of workers are being reassigned to those locations.
About 970 Alyeska employee and contract positions will be at Fairbanks, 650 at Valdez, and 110 positions in Anchorage.
The changes represent a cut from about 2,230 Alyeska employees and contractors to about 1,750 and include staff cuts from pump station closings planned for July 1 (OGJ, May 5, 1997, p. 54). Employees were offered a voluntary separation plan.
Alyeska's owners are the principal interest owners of most North Slope oil and gas reserves.
Rationale
Bob Malone, president and CEO, said, "The goal of this redesign is to position ourselves for the future.
"We're making the organization more efficient, and that means moving our people and our resources closer to the assets that we operate and maintain. This will enhance the safety and environmental protection by increasing the number of people readily available every day.
"We want to look for ways of extending the life of the pipeline by being a more efficient transportation link for the producers as they explore and develop new oil reserves, and that means having an efficient operation.
"Our roots are in Fairbanks and Valdez. That's where we were based when we constructed this pipeline system, and that is where we are returning so the operation has all the resources it needs to run the system safely."
The Fairbanks office will be responsible for the pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to pipeline Mile Post 647, about 7 miles north of the Gulkana River.
The Valdez office will oversee the line from Mile Post 647 to the Valdez marine terminal. It also will oversee the terminal and the ship escort response vessel system functions through Prince William Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance.
Alyeska said the redesign of the business units was based on employee recommendations of a task force.
Copyright 1997 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
