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ExxonMobil in Alaska: Exxon’s Ed Patton’s role in oil pipeline Engineer played many roles in getting line built, including liaison, lobbyist; warned in 1970 that Native claims needed solving Steve Quinn For Petroleum News
If discovering oil on Prudhoe Bay wasn’t tough enough, the oil companies still had to find a way to ship the sweet crude to their customers.
The choices were few, really.
With Prudhoe Bay icebound for most of the year, the oil would have to go to an open water port by pipeline.
Destination: Valdez on the Prince William Sound from Deadhorse by way of the Atigun Pass and Fairbanks.
The job of overseeing construction of that pipeline fell squarely on the shoulders of Exxon’s Edward Patton.
Patton, an engineer, would head the pipeline company formed in 1969, having already built the company’s massive oil refinery in Benicia, Calif.
Former colleagues say Patton’s engineering expertise ultimately became secondary in getting the 800-mile pipeline under way.
He became a liaison, a lobbyist and a listener.
This called for working directly with federal lawmakers and agencies, state lawmakers and their bureaucrats and Native Alaska leaders. Important role as mediator His words and actions were closely watched and heeded by Alaska business and civic leaders.
Indeed one public declaration in the fall of 1970 may have awakened people to the pipeline realities.
Meanwhile Alaska’s pipeline drama was set against the backdrop of an emerging global energy crisis set off in the Middle East with an oil embargo in1973.
Former Alyeska consultant Jack Roderick marveled at the transition Patton underwent.
Roderick chronicled the nexus between oil and politics in his book, “Crude Dreams,” and discussed Patton’s role.
“He was no longer an engineer; he was a mediator, and he was good at it,” Roderick said in an interview. “He was an even-tempered guy — unflappable.
“He had a personality to do it. I think it was very hard on him, though. I know it was hard on his wife.
“People were coming at him from all angles.
“I don’t think he liked it very much some times, but he simply took it in stride.”
Patton accepted his post, but chose to live in Bellevue, Wash., where he and his family could enjoy sailing in their time off. Patton opened the office in October 1970.
It also enabled Patton to shuttle back and forth between Seattle and Washington, D.C., Juneau, or Anchorage more efficiently.
Having a headquarters in Washington upset state business leaders and lawmakers, who pushed for greater company presence.
It may seem like a petty complaint, but headquarters for state projects remains a touchy subject even today as the state and oil companies work toward building a natural gas pipeline.
Project delays Less than one year after ARCO, Exxon and BP officially announced plans to build a pipeline from the North Slope to a terminal facility in Valdez, Patton faced delays.
Pipeline ordered from Japan had already arrived and would sit in Valdez, Deadhorse and Fairbanks for another four years.
Rusting pipes were just a small problem emerging in Alaska.
In “Crude Dreams,” Roderick writes:
“Local businessmen, expecting work on the pipeline to begin no later than 1971, had borrowed heavily and could no longer meet their financial obligations. Bankruptcies grew in number. Already concerned about the pipeline’s delay, BP Chairman Eric Drake suggested that crude oil from the North Slope might be taken to market by submarine.”
During the delay, federal and state lawmakers, regulatory agencies, and respective lawyers in legal disputes worked to settle issues surrounding guidelines, permitting and ownership.
Patton was on the front lines for much of it, meeting lawmakers and testifying in committee hearings.
Topics ranged from who should own the pipeline — the state or the oil companies — in Juneau and whether the pipeline should be built at all in Washington, D.C.
Native claims issue Historians and former colleagues consider Patton’s most pointed comments to have come in the fall of 1970.
During the delay, Patton stunned the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce with a September 1970 speech about resolving the Native land claims.
“Everybody was upset with the delays,” Roderick said in an interview. “He got up in front of the Anchorage Chamber and told that group what they didn’t want to hear.
“He said the land claims have to be settled if the pipeline is going to be built.
“Suddenly here is Ed Patton, head of Alyeska pipeline saying, ‘Don’t blame the Natives. Get on board and help solve the problem.’
“Because he said it, it forced business and the industry to lend support for a settlement, although some were still reluctant.
“Patton was the CEO, the head man — the most visible connection Alaska had to the pipeline — and they paid close attention to what he said.”
Fifteen months later, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
This gave Alaska Natives the right to choose 44 million acres of land, plus a cash settlement of about $1 billion. Half of that sum was to come from oil production royalties.
Another former colleague, Harry Jamison, recalled watching Patton take measured approaches to his work.
Jamison began his North Slope work as a geologist with Richfield Co. before it became ARCO and worked for Alyeska as a government affairs officer in the early 1970s while Alyeska worked to get its permits from various agencies.
At the time, Jamison, considered a key to successful Prudhoe Bay development, was on loan from ARCO.
He recalls Patton’s work, not just for his technical knowledge, but his ability to work with groups of diverse interests.
“He was the driving force behind putting the company together in a way you wouldn’t expect,” Jamison said.
“He fought the political battles, the technical battles, and the environmental battles that ensued,” he said.
“We had a lot of them — no question about that — and he handled it well.”
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