Month: June 2023

From Alyeska: John Kurz named President and CEO of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company

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John Kurz, President of Alyeska

John Kurz became the next President and CEO of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on April 10, 2023. Kurz follows Interim President Betsy Haines who led the company during the executive search conducted by the Trans Alaska Pipeline System Owners.

Kurz brings over three decades of experience in the oil and gas industry. This includes serving as Senior Operations Manager for Greater Prudhoe Bay in Alaska in addition to multiple executive positions around the world. In his most recent role, Kurz was Chief Operating Officer for Santos and Oil Search in Papua New Guinea. Career highlights include overseeing operations in oil and gas fields, terminals, and pipelines. Kurz has a track record of improving safety and environmental performance and cultivating the next generation of leaders.

“Alyeska is a great company with a rich and proud history and an exciting future,” Kurz said. “Its employees are critical to the State of Alaska, the communities, the upstream and downstream customers we serve, and employees and families who rely on the oil and gas industry for work. Leading an organization and team of this significance is a tremendous responsibility and honor, and I intend to help Alyeska achieve even higher levels of performance.”

Kurz met his spouse in Anchorage, all three of his children were born here, and he holds a Master of Science Degree in Engineering Management from the University of Alaska.

“We have strong connections here,” John said. “It is an incredible opportunity to return home and serve as Alyeska President and CEO.”
In addition to his Prudhoe Bay experience, Kurz served as the executive responsible for operations in Baku, Azerbaijan for the Sangachal Terminal and in Basra, Iraq for the giant Rumaila Field. Kurz previously held other roles in oil and gas in Egypt, Indonesia, and Texas.

“In all my leadership roles, I have worked to inspire the Team to deliver greater performance and results across the board in safety, production, cost, and other business measures, while also leaving an enduring legacy of improvement,” Kurz said.

Including Haines, Kurz is the 13th president to lead Alyeska since its formation in 1970.

Haines, who retired from Alyeska in 2021 after 30 years of service, plans to resume her retirement plans after assisting with the transition to Kurz.

“It has been a privilege to lead this organization as Interim President,” Haines said. “Certainly, when I retired, I didn’t imagine this opportunity, and it was a surprising and wonderful way to end my career. I look forward to bringing John on board as he takes on this new challenge. We’re all looking forward to this next chapter for Alyeska.”

 

Report raises concerns about safety at the Valdez Marine Terminal

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In April 2023, the Council released an assessment of risks and safety culture at the Valdez Marine Terminal. This report was initiated in June 2022, in response to safety concerns brought to Council staff by current and former Alyeska employees.

The Council worked with Billie Pirner Garde, a national expert on safety culture for work environments in energy industries. Garde previously worked as a consultant for both Alyeska and BP on numerous issues such as open work environments, safety cultures, and employee concerns programs.

Garde interviewed the concerned individuals, allowing them to remain anonymous. They reported inadequate staffing, equipment, and safety and reporting systems. Pressure to reduce budgets was a common theme.

One person quoted in the report noted, “we are as safe as the budget allows.”

According to the interviews, the availability of resources, quality and audit functions, maintenance and system upgrades, and operational integrity and compliance have all suffered significantly under recent corporate management.

“Virtually every serious accident investigation confirms that the tension between cost on the one hand, and compliance and safety on the other hand, contributed to the event.”
– Billie Pirner Garde

Alyeska employees

Garde notes in the report that the interviewees all cared deeply about the safe operation of the terminal, and the safety of their colleagues, the community, and Prince William Sound. She credits the integrity, knowledge, and skill of the Alyeska workforce for holding together an aging infrastructure.

Regulatory oversight diminished

Government budget pressures have also contributed to the problems. Over the past several years, the Council has voiced concerns about cuts and reductions in staffing at oversight agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

“The consequences of reduced oversight have, generally, never been favorable for the Alaska public and its environment,” Garde notes in the report.

Report recommendations

At a special meeting of the Council’s Board of Directors in April, the Council endorsed all recommendations in the report, including that Congress initiate a Government Accountability Office audit to determine the adequacy of the present regulatory oversight of terminal operations by federal and state agencies.

Other recommendations include:

  • The State of Alaska initiate an assessment, or audit, of the present regulatory oversight of terminal operations by state agencies;
  • The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration conduct or commission a full independent audit of applicable terminal systems for compliance with Process Safety Management;
  • Alyeska and the Trans Alaska Pipeline System owners commission an independent full assessment of the company’s safety management systems and determine a specific timeline for actual completion of the necessary changes to ensure safe operations; that they commission an immediate independent audit to be conducted of all deferred maintenance at the terminal; and provide mandatory training for all supervisory and management personnel on their duty to promote a strong safety culture, uphold a compliance culture, and not tolerate harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or discrimination.

Response from Alyeska

The Council has been encouraged by Alyeska’s response.

John Kurz, the new president of Alyeska, joined the Council’s Board of Directors at the May meeting. He told the Board that he and Alyeska’s executive team are taking the report seriously. He noted that they have formed a team to look into issues identified to determine what is going well, what areas they may be falling short, and what actions they are going to take to address them.

“There is nothing more important than life and family,” Kurz said, when explaining his views on safety in the workplace. “Because I care about everyone that works for us, I also want everyone to experience everything life has to offer, and therefore we will be injury free.”

Schantz says she knows that the staff at Alyeska and the regulatory agencies are dedicated to operating as safely as possible with the resources they are given. “The Council agrees with the sentiment expressed by Alyeska executives that this report provides an opportunity for improvement,” she said. “We stand ready to support Alyeska, and state and federal regulatory agencies, in our role as an advisor.”

“The greatest successes result from citizens, industry, and regulators working together to maintain and improve safeguards to prevent and prepare for future oil spills,” Schantz added.
The full report, including more detail on the resulting recommendations, is available on the Council’s website: 

Drills and exercises getting back to normal

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Photo shows responders practicing an oil spill response during low-light conditions. The area is lit using multiple bright lights to be able to see the equipment.
The Council would like to see more exercises performed during low-visibility conditions. If a spill were to occur during winter or a foggy summer day, crews don’t have as much practice in how to adjust tactics for these conditions. Photo by Jeremy Robida.

For the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic affected many aspects of daily life. Oil spill drills and exercises were not exempt. Restrictions to protect the health and safety of responders limited these activities.

Not only were there fewer drills and exercises, they were harder to observe. Social distancing meant that Council staff could not board tugs and barges to see response operations up close. Council staff members Roy Robertson and Jeremy Robida, who have monitored drills and exercises in Prince William Sound for the past 18 and 13 years respectively, conducted some observations from a separate chartered vessel.

Fortunately, this year many of the restrictions were lifted.

New report summarizes 2022 drills

The Council’s annual report on drills and exercises conducted in Prince William Sound in 2022 has been released. The report highlights some of the continuing effects from the pandemic, along with a few changes that are here to stay.

Conducting business online

Virtual conferencing has changed many workplaces, including oil spill response. These technologies have shown up in several ways.

Coordinating online: Many drills are now hybrid (in person with online participants). Meetings are broadcast on videoconferencing platforms. Documents and other data are shared through online collaboration tools. Robertson says there are still some glitches, but these are improving.

Live video streaming: During a drill in May, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation deployed a drone over some activities out on the water. They were able to stream live video to the Valdez command center and participants in Jacksonville, Florida. The video was also recorded and available for later review.

Online training options: Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System conducts annual trainings for crews of local fishing vessels, who are contracted to respond in case of a spill. Before the pandemic, part of the training sessions were held in a classroom, part were hands-on experience with equipment on dry land, and finally, crews would practice deploying equipment on the water.

Since the pandemic, the classroom sessions have been held online. The dry-land portion that required closer physical interaction between participants had not been held since 2020, but returned in 2023. The on-water portion remains the same.

Improvements at Valdez Duck Flats

Pandemic restrictions particularly affected exercises to practice either diverting oil from shorelines or protecting locations that are particularly sensitive to oil contamination, such as hatcheries. These tactics are performed by fishing vessels which have little room for social distancing. The return to in-person exercises is important for these activities.
Robertson noted in the report that responders spent more time this year practicing tactics to protect the Valdez Duck Flats, a highly productive biological area that provides critical habitat for a variety of waterfowl, small mammals, and marine mammals. This area is particularly sensitive to oil contamination. This was time well spent, he says. Robertson said that the responders have become more proficient at these tactics.

More details in the report: Drill Monitoring Annual Report for 2022

 

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