Trans-Arabian Pipeline

The Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline), was an oil pipeline from Qaisumah in Saudi Arabia to Sidon in Lebanon. In its heyday, it was an important factor in the global trade of petroleum—helping with the economic development of Lebanon—as well as American and Middle Eastern political relations.

History

Tapline was at the time of its construction in 1948 the largest pipeline in the world. The design incorporated many new ideas that were never used before and some experts were very skeptical about it and said that it would never work. In the picture you will see a picture for Mr. John Makkinje standing next to one of those new methods of construction. The great Trans Arabian Pipeline (TAPline)

I was born and lived twenty years at Aramco Tapline Company in Saudi Arabia. This company was responsible for pumping oil from Saudi Arabia to Jordan and Lebanon (Sidon).The pumping stopped by the first Gulf War (90's) the company continued working but with no oil pumping until the end of the year 2002 where the mother company Saudi Aramco decided to completely close the company. And by the end of 2005 the company was sentenced to death where they started the demolition process until every single building was settled to land.By demolition of Tapline, Aramco Company ended the trip of the longest pipeline in the World the Trans Arabian Pipeline (Tapline)

Construction of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline began in 1947 and was mainly managed by the American company Bechtel. Originally the Tapline was intended to terminate in Haifa which was then in the British Mandate of Palestine, but due to the establishment of the state of Israel, an alternative route through Syria (via the Golan Heights) and Lebanon was selected with an export terminal in Sidon. Oil transport through the pipeline started in 1950.

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, the section of the pipeline which runs through the Golan Heights came under Israeli control, though the Israelis permitted the pipeline's operation to continue. After years of constant bickering between Saudi Arabia and Syria and Lebanon over transit fees, the emergence of oil supertankers, and pipeline breakdowns, the section of the line beyond Jordan ceased operation in 1976. The remainder of the line between Saudi Arabia and Jordan continued to transport modest amounts of petroleum until 1990 when the Saudis cut off the pipeline in response to Jordan's support of Iraq during the first Gulf War. Today, the entire line is unfit for oil transport.cite paper
url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/East_Med/Oil.html
title=Eastern Mediterranean. Oil
publisher=Energy Information Agency
date=October 2006
accessdate=2008-01-03]

Technical features

The Trans-Arabian Pipeline is convert|1214|km|mi|0 long with diameter of convert|30|in|mm|-1. After construction it was the world's largest oil pipeline system. The initial capacity of the pipeline was convert|300000|oilbbl/d|m3/d (bpd), eventually rising to a maximum capacity of about convert|500000|oilbbl/d|m3/d|abbr=on with the addition of several more pumping stations. Were the Tapline still operational to this day however, it would be considered rather outdated as most modern long distance pipelines constructed in the second half of the twentieth century and later are built to a diameter of 42" or 48" and thus able to transport considerably more crude oil per day than Tapline did in its heyday. The pipeline was supplied from the Abqaiq oil fields.

The Tapline corridor has remained a potential export route for Persian Gulf oil exports to Europe and the United States. At least one analysis has indicated that the transportation cost of exporting oil via the Tapline through Haifa to Europe would cost as much as 40 percent less than shipping by tanker through the Suez Canal. In early 2005, rehabilitation of the Tapline at an estimated cost of US$100 to US$300 million was one of the strategic options being considered by the Jordanian government to meet oil needs.

Pipeline company

The pipeline was built and operated by the Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company. It was founded as a joint venture between the Standard Oil company of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil), Standard Oil of California (Chevron), The Texas Company (better known as Texaco, now a part of Chevron), and Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (ExxonMobil), however, it eventually became a fully owned subsidiary of Aramco.

References

ee also

*Petroleum Road

External links

* [http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/300/380/388/tapline/ Tapline overview and history]