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These companies also own Tapline's sister
company, the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) and are owned, in
turn, by more than 600,000 individuals, private investors. It was
these private investors who, without government aid of any kind,
accepted the risk of financing Tapline, an expenditure of
$176,000,000. To replace Tapline today would cost more than a quarter
billion dollars, or almost 50 per cent more than its original
construction cost.
Tapline's principal facility is its 30-31 inch
pipeline, which extends 1,213 kilometers from Qaisumah, Saudi Arabia,
to the Sidon terminal. Of the line's total length, 867 kilometers lie
in Saudi Arabia, 178 kilometers in Jordan, 127 kilometers in the
Syrian Province of the United Arab Republic, and 41 kilometers in
Lebanon.
Sidon terminal facilities include a large oil
storage tank farm and four tanker loading berths located about 1.5
kilometers offshore. There, through underwater loading lines, tankers
of all sizes take on cargoes of crude oil and bunker fuel.
Tapline normally transports about one third of
the crude oil produced by Aramco in Saudi Arabia. The average
sustained daily capacity of the pipeline is 450,000
barrels. Substantially greater quantities can be pumped for short
periods of time.
Four main pump stations and four intermediate
pumping units propel the oil from Saudi Arabia through the pipeline
over the long route from Qaisumah to Sidon. The four main pump
stations are spaced across northwestern Saudi Arabia, about 270
kilometers apart, at Qaisumah, Rafha, Badanah and Turaif (see map,
pages 7-8). Spaced along the pipeline at points about halfway between
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the main stations are four gas turbine pumping units installed in
1957-58 as part of a program to increase the pipeline's daily capacity
by approximately
140,000 barrels. Of these, three are portable gas combustion turbine
pumping units, which require no onthe-spot personnel and are remotely
controlled by radio. A fourth, fixed gas turbine unit is located at
Qaryatain, Jordan, between Turaif and Sidon.
Tapline employs about 1,081 persons. Because
the company gives job preference to Arab nationals of the four
countries in which it operates, 965 Tapline employees are from Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, the Syrian Province of the United Arab Republic, and
Lebanon.
Tapline's main offices are in Beirut,
Lebanon. Operations in Saudi Arabia and Jordan are directed from a
field office at Turaif. A small office in New York City provides
liaison with the owners of Tapline, and gives technical and supply
assistance.
TAPLINE CRUDE OIL THROUGHPUT
COMPARED WITH
TAPLINE CAPACITY 1951-1960
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