Who Owns the Alaska Pipeline: Hilcorp, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil

The Trans Alaska Pipeline System is owned by three corporations: Harvest Alaska, LLC holds roughly 49.1 percent, ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska, Inc. holds about 29.6 percent, and ExxonMobil Pipeline Company holds approximately 21.3 percent.¹ None of the three built the original line, which cost around $8 billion and began operating in June 1977. The current lineup reflects decades of mergers, sales, and one recent transaction that reshaped the ownership map: Hilcorp Energy’s 2020 purchase of BP’s entire Alaska portfolio for $5.6 billion, which handed BP’s legacy builder-era stake to Hilcorp’s subsidiary Harvest Alaska.²

Harvest Alaska (Hilcorp): 49.1069 Percent

Harvest Alaska became the pipeline’s largest stakeholder in 2020, when its parent Hilcorp completed the purchase of BP Pipelines (Alaska), Inc.’s 49.1069 percent interest. That transaction transferred BP’s midstream leases to Harvest Alaska as part of BP’s broader exit from the state.¹ Hilcorp is a privately held operator that specializes in acquiring and running mature oil and gas fields, which makes it a very different kind of owner than the multinational that originally held the stake.

ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska: 29.6102 Percent

ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska, Inc. holds 29.6102 percent of the system.¹ The stake reflects the company’s long-standing position as one of the North Slope’s largest crude producers.

ExxonMobil Pipeline Company: 21.2829 Percent

ExxonMobil Pipeline Company rounds out the ownership group at 21.2829 percent.¹ Between them, the three owners hold the physical steel, the pump stations, the valves, and the storage tanks at the Valdez Marine Terminal. They also own the crude moving through the line in proportion to their production, and their stakes determine how they split annual maintenance costs, capital upgrades, and financial liability for environmental incidents or eventual decommissioning.

Why Alyeska Is Not an Owner

People often assume Alyeska Pipeline Service Company owns the pipeline. It does not. Alyeska is the agent that operates the system on behalf of the three corporate owners and holds no equity in the pipe or the oil flowing through it.³ It functions like a property management company hired by the landlords: it runs day-to-day operations, employs the technicians and engineers, handles leak detection and structural integrity monitoring, and coordinates spill response. Alyeska manages the pump stations that push crude 800 miles from the North Slope to the coast; of the original eleven, only four remain active, with Pump Stations 1, 4, and 9 running continuously and Pump Station 5 serving as a relief station.⁴ At the southern end, Alyeska runs the Valdez Marine Terminal, a 1,000-acre facility where tankers have loaded North Slope crude since 1977.⁵ Operating as a nonprofit agent, Alyeska passes its costs through to the owners rather than earning its own profit.

Government agencies regulate how the owners operate the pipeline, but none of them own any part of it either. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration enforces federal safety standards, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources administers right-of-way agreements on state lands, and the Joint Pipeline Office coordinates oversight across six federal and six state agencies.⁶

What the Owners Own, and What They Don’t

Owning the pipeline hardware is not the same as owning the ground underneath it. The system crosses a patchwork of federal, state, and Alaska Native corporation lands, and the three companies hold permission to occupy that corridor through right-of-way agreements rather than land titles. On federal land, those grants come from the Mineral Leasing Act, which allows the Secretary of the Interior to issue pipeline rights-of-way for up to 30 years at a time.⁷

The original federal right-of-way expired on January 23, 2004. Interior renewed it for another 30 years, so the current grant runs through January 22, 2034.⁸ Without renewal, the owners lose legal authority to operate across federal land. The state right-of-way lease, managed through the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, runs on a similar timeline.³ Substantial portions of the route also cross lands owned by Alaska Native corporations, which require separate private agreements and compensation. As part of the 2004 renewal, Alyeska committed to funding employment, training, and advancement programs for Alaska Native employees, along with $750,000 in annual scholarships.⁹

The Decommissioning Bill the Owners Are On the Hook For

When the pipeline eventually stops operating, the three owners bear the full cost of dismantling it. Their federal and state right-of-way agreements require them to remove all improvements and equipment, restore the land to a satisfactory condition, and clean any oil or residue from buried pipe that is left in place with government approval. They must also abate any environmental condition arising from the pipeline’s construction, operation, or termination. An analysis conducted during the 2004 right-of-way renewal estimated the dismantlement and restoration cost at roughly $2.2 billion in 2004 dollars.¹⁰

That liability sits with Harvest Alaska, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil, not with Alyeska and not with the government. With daily throughput down to roughly 465,000 barrels per day in 2024 from a 1988 peak above 2 million, and the federal right-of-way expiring in 2034, the financial strength of these three owners is not an abstract question.¹¹

1
Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Due Diligence Memorandum BP/Hilcorp – Midstream Assets
2
BP. BP Completes Sale of Upstream Alaska Business
3
Justia. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. State
4
Alyeska Pipeline. Pump Stations
5
Alyeska Pipeline. Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT)
6
Bureau of Land Management. Joint Pipeline Office
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 30 USC 185 – Rights-of-Way for Pipelines Through Federal Lands
8
U.S. GAO. Trans-Alaska Pipeline – Clarifying the Roles of Joint Pipeline Office Agencies Would Enhance Safety Oversight
9
U.S. Department of the Interior. Interior Secretary Norton Signs Renewal of Pipeline Agreement
10
Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council. Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Dismantling, Removal and Restoration Report
11
U.S. Energy Information Administration. Alaska State Energy Profile