Wright & Talisman has once again successfully defended the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) quality bank methodology on behalf of clients Tesoro Alaska Company LLC and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Opinion No. 588, which upholds the current quality bank methodology, marks another success in our longstanding representation of these clients. This representation previously resulted in landmark FERC Opinion Nos. 502 and 544 regarding TAPS rates. On the Alaska North Slope, producers inject crude oil of different quality into TAPS and receive the commingled stream at the pipeline terminus in Valdez. A quality bank ensures that no producer gains or loses value due to commingling.

These proceedings began in 2013 and have been remanded twice by the D.C. Circuit. Opinion No. 588 is the third FERC order upholding the TAPS quality bank and rejecting challenges by Petro Star Inc. that the methodology incorrectly values Resid. Tesoro and Anadarko, with other Alaska North Slope producers, will continue to defend the quality bank as the case is appealed again to the D.C. Circuit.