The pipeline was built between March 1975 and June 1977, running from the North Slope fields at Prudhoe Bay to the Marine Terminal at Valdez on Prince William Sound.

The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company was partially responsible for helping to respond to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

September 2017 Alyeska had another spill due to a mix up of piping by long time employees, and dispensed anywhere from 9.5 to 38 barrels of product into the narrows of Valdez.

The State Lease was renewed for another thirty years on November 26, 2002, and a matching Federal Record of Decision for Right-of-Way was signed on January 8, 2003.

The government responsibility in regulating TAPS is managed through the Joint Pipeline Office ([1], JPO), a consortium of thirteen federal and state agencies under the Department of the Interior.