Alyeska wants the pipeline on state land until 2064

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has asked Alaska to renew the trans-Alaska pipeline's lease on state land for another 30 years, which would carry it to 2064. The current lease does not expire until May 2034.

That makes two early filings in as many months. The company asked the Bureau of Land Management this summer to renew the pipeline's federal right-of-way, more than seven years ahead of its 2034 expiration, as Alaska News reported. The state request, a two-page letter from chief executive John Kurz to Natural Resources Commissioner John Crowther, went out Sept. 2, asking for "the maximum term authorized by applicable law, thirty years." It covers the pipeline itself and the access roads, airstrips and communication sites that serve it.

Kurz's letter argues the commissioner does not have much of a choice. It cites a clause in the lease saying the state shall renew as long as the pipeline is operating commercially and the owners are following state law.

The statute behind that lease is less absolute. It also directs the commissioner to weigh what the pipeline cost, how much useful life it has left and what it will need financed. A separate provision requires a written finding on whether an applicant is fit, willing and able to serve the public interest, though neither Alyeska's letter nor the state's notice says whether that applies to a renewal.

The state will hold hearings online Oct. 13 and in Valdez Oct. 15. Its notice does not set a deadline for written comment.