Trans-Alaska Pipeline threatened by thawing

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one of the world's largest oil pipelines, is under threat due to thawing permafrost, NBC News reports, citing Inside Climate News.

Over the past few decades, temperatures in Alaska have warmed as much as 2 degrees centigrade.

The supports holding up an elevated section of the pipeline are now in danger, jeopardising its structure and increasing chances of an oil spill in a delicate and remote landscape.

The slope of permafrost where a 246m section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, and several of the braces holding up the pipeline have started to twist and bend.

The Alyeska Pipeline Service, which operates the pipeline, confirmed that thawing permafrost posed a threat when seeking permission in February 2020 to install 100 thermosyphons - tubes that suck heat out of permafrost - on the slope.

"The purpose of this project is to protect the integrity of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (mainline) from permafrost degradation," according to the company's application.

The 800 mile long pipeline carries around 475,000 bpd of crude oil, according to the Alyeska Pipeline Service website.