Trans-Alaska Pipeline System too risky. A pipeline was thus the only viable system for transporting the oil to the nearest port free of pack-ice, almost 800 miles (1,300 km) away at Valdez. In February 1969, before the SS Manhattan had even sailed from its East Coast starting point, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), an unincorporated joint group created by ARCO, British Petroleum, and Humble Oil in October 1968, asked for permission from the United States Department of the Interior to begin geological and engineering studies of a proposed oil pipeline route from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, across Alaska. Even before the first feasibility
Pipeline transport operational commands (open/close valves, turn on/off compressors or pumps, change setpoints, etc.) through the SCADA system to the field. To optimize and secure the operation of these assets, some pipeline companies are using what is called "Advanced Pipeline Applications", which are software tools installed on top of the SCADA system, that provide extended functionality to perform leak detection, leak location, batch tracking (liquid lines), pig tracking, composition tracking, predictive modeling, look ahead modeling, and operator training. Pipeline networks are composed of several pieces of equipment that operate together to move products from location to location. The main elements of a