TAPLINE MARKS TENTH ANNIVERSARY

Vol. 8
No. II
TRANS-ARABIAN PIPE LINE COMPANY, BEIR T, LEBANO
!
December 1960
TAPLINE MARKS TENTH ANNIVERSARY
8,191 Tankers Load
1,160,777,922 Bbls.
Of Crude From Sidon
Tapline is far more efficient operationally today
than when it loaded its first
tanker ten years ago.
During this period, the
pipeline's capacity, taking
into account increases in
allowable pressures, the installation of auxiliary pumping units and other improvements, has been increased
The large o. 1 manual
valve wheel at the Sidon terminal shore control station
was turned slowly to the left
at 10 :30 o'clock on the chillv,
overcast Saturday morning
of December 2, 1950. Crude
oil from Saudi Arahia's vast
oil fields, more than a thousand miles to the east, started
coursing through underground pipes and submarine
lines toward the S S unset, moored offshore. Tapline, for years an industrial
giant only on design draft
boards and in construction
maps, was officially in the
business of transporting and
delivering oil.
The year later, marking
its first major operational
birthday, Tapline can revie\\
a long list of achievements.
10st important, the pipeline has transported a total
of 1,160,777,922 barrels of
oil (official total through October 31, plus estimated No"ember total). The Sidon
terminal has loaded 8,191
tankers.
But as Tapline's pioneer
employees will recall, the
first days often were ones of
uncertainty and great risks.
During construction, which
began in July after several
years of design planning,
great problems involving
complicated logistics, terrain
and climate had to be solved.
At one point, a long delay
seriously threatened the
whole pipeline project that
was to cost an eventual
$176,000,000. The company's convention with the Syrian province of the nited
Arab Republic, then the Re-
(Continued on page 4)
(Continued on page J2)
A wave of an arm, a turn of a wheel and a major milestone in Tapline's history is reached 011
December 2, 1950, at the Sidon Terminal. While Major Albert N. Horne, then Vice President
and General Manager, signals the shore control operator, the late Burt E. Hull, (second
from left), then president begins turning the valve whee! that starts oil flowing to the first
tanker leaded by Tapline, the SIS Sunset. Others shown are H.B. Beckley (left), then general
superintendent, Western Division; Walter E. Locher, (foreground), then manager of operations; and Henl)' Carrington, (rear) then terminal superintendent.
Noble Comments On Oil Congress Charges
I n a series of panel d iscussions with groups of company employees, Tapline
President John Noble has
branded as without foundation the charges of bad faith
levelled against international
and Middle East oil companies during the recent second
Arab League Petroleum
Congress held in Beirut.
As a lawyer and executive,
Mr.
oble has had direct
personal experience with
many of the legal and other
aspects of the industry involving Aramco, its owner
companies and Tapline during the past eleven years.
He has been personally fa-
miliar with the details of
many of the situations which
were challenged by certain
spokesmen and is able to
speak authoritatively about
them.
"First, I can say very
emphatically that, based on
my own experience and
knowledge, the oil industry
is one of the cleanest industries in the world," Mr.
oble declared.
"The industry is not run
by people of doubtful honesty as some speakers at the
Oil Congress have strongly
implied, but by men of high
moral, ethical and business
standards.
"However, because of the
oil industry's international
(Colltinued on pages 2 &: 3)
Pipeline Efficiency
Greatly Increased
PIPELI E PERISCOPE
Pa/1:e 2
PIPELINE PERISCOPE
NOBLE
(ContinURd from page I)
On the occasion of Tapline' tenth anni\'ersary, the
Pipeline Periscope offers a
triple nomination for the
~potlight: the late Burt E,
Hull, first president of Tapline; Clyde A. Swigart, the
company's second president,
who retired in .\pril, 1957;
and John 1 - oble, president
of the company and its chief
executive officer.
JJr. Hull
Widely known as the "Ko.
1 pipeliner of the oil world,"
~Ir. Hull headed Tapline
B. E. Hull
from July, 1946, until his
retirement on :\Iarch 2,
1951. During World War II,
he built the famed "Big
Inch" and "Little Inch"
lines from Texas to the East
Coast of the U.S.A.
..\. graduate of Texas A&:\I
College, :\Ir. Hull gained his
initial pipe line experience
at Beaumont, Texas, in
1905, when he joined The
Te~as Company as a junior
engmeer.
In :\Iarch, 1926, he was
elected president and mana/1:er of The Te as Pipe Line
Company, with headquarters in Houston. He also
served as president and manager of The Texas-Empire
Pipe Line Company, the
Kaw Pipe Line Company
and The Texas-. 'ew 1\Iexico
Pipe Line Company. He was
elected a \'ice president of
The Texas Company in
larch, 1947. Following his
retirement from Tapline, he
sen'ed as an ad\'isor to The
Texa Company on pipeline
matters.
1\1r. Hull was 74 when he
died of a heart attack at the
Gaston Hospital, Dallas,
Texas, on November 8,
1958. He is sun'i\'ed bv his
widow, ~Irs. Francis L.
Hull, a daughter, Ruth, and
son, R. E. Hull, J r.
.Ur. Su:igart
A nati\'e of California,
born in Arroyo Grande,
Clyde A. Swigart entered the
pipeline department of the
Standard Oil Company of
California shortly after he
was graduated from Leland
Stanford U ni\'ersity. On one
occasion, he related that
when he was interviewed for
the pipeline job in 1911 he
pipeLine
PERISCOPE
Resp. Director:
M. K. 5aab
Staff Reporter
F. C. Naija
Artist
Vartan Bezdikian
Reporters:
Badanah
Rose Sawdah
Jordan
John Franjieh
New York
Qalsumah
R. M. Weeks
Sa'ad Abdallah
Rafha
S. S. Dabaghl
Sidon
Dr. G. M. Stephan
, S. M. Siddlque
I
M. Sultan
Turalf
--
Michel Salame
Beirut
C. A. Swigart
was told the infant oil industry "would probably last about 20 years." He took the
job, not expecting to remain
in the business even that
long.
:\1r. Swigart worked his
way up through various positions to become manager
of the pipeline department
and, in 1943, vice president
of Standard Pipeline Company. In 1949, he was named
a vice president of Tapline.
In March, 1951, he was appointed president and five
vears later, he became chairman of Tapline's Board of
Directors and chief e ecutive officer. 1\lr. and Irs.
Swigart left Beirut in April,
1957, to retire at their old
home, 119-28th Street, San
Francisco.
.1Ir. Soble
John Noble entered the oil
industry in 1949 when he
John Soble
joined Aramco's Law Department. He became associate general counsel of that
company and of Tapline
in 1\1arch, 1951. Before
that, Ir.. -oble had practiced law in Boston for thirteen years as a member of
the firm of Warren, Garfield,
Whiteside and Lamson.
From 1947 to 1949 !\Ir. 1'0ble served the United States
Government as Assistant
General Counsel to the late
James Forrestal, then Secretary of Defense. He was elected president of Tapline at
a board of directors meeting
on March 9, 1956, and was
named chief executi\'e officer
in May, 1957.
Born in Cambridge, 1\1assachussetts, Mr. oble holds
degrees from Han'ard Uni\'ersity and the Harvard
School of Law. He was admitted to the lassachussetts
bar in 1935 and the .'ew
York bar in 1951.
During World War II
Mr.. -oble attained the rank
of Commander in the United
States avy and served on
the staff of Commander Carrier Division Twenty-two in
the Pacific.
Mr. and Mrs. oble have
three boys-John, 23, Christop~er, 20 and George, 19.
TheIr daughter Edith was
born in October, 1954.
character, and the necessarily political aspects of
some of its relations with
governments, the industry
presents a tempting target
for ambitious editorialists
and other indivuals having
personal axes to grind.
"Some of the specific
charges le\'elled at the oil
companies involve complex
matters, and development of
all the facts takes time. It
is far simpler to make an
unsupported accusation than
to refute it on the spot with
the facts. But there is no
doubt in mv mind that the
charges that'have been made
again t the oil companies
are false, and can be pro\'ed
false. "
:\Ir. . 'ohle commented
briefly on certain of the
charg'es which had been
made at the Congress:
1. That the oil industn
realized a hidden profit of
orne 5.6 billion o\'er se\'en
and a half years, at the expense of the-producing countries, by means of a trick
pricing "formula for l\liddle
East crude.
• Ir. 'oble: "This charge,
as Ir. Robert Brougham of
.\ramco stated for the official
Congress record, i 'sheer
invention and fantasy.' This
alleged profit simply does
not exist and never did exi t,
and official U.S. GO\'ernment and other completely
impartial audits of the companies' books prove the point
beyond question."
2. That the oil companies
manipulate prices for their
own selfish aims, putting
profits first in production,
then in transportation, then
in marketing or refining, all
for the purpose of depriving
the producing countries of
their rightful share of oil revenues.
Mr.
oble: "Also false.
The greatest share of the
profits has always stemmed
from the producing end of
the business because that is
where the greatest risks and
expenses have been encountered. Prices have necessarily
reflected this situation. As a
result, all but a small portion
(Continued next column)
of petroleum profits are shared by the producing countries.
"For example, official audited and published figures
quoted by the First ational
ew York
City Bank of
showed that over a recent
six-year period the seven
major international oil companies realized total profits
of $5,653,000,000 from their
producing, transportation,
refining and marketing operations in the Eastern Hemisphere, including Europe.
For this same period, about
5,440,000,000, was paid to
the governments of the oil
producing countries under
fifty-fifty arrangements. In
other words, of a total more
than $5,600 million of company profits, only $213 million was realized in the nonproducing operations of
transportation, refining and
marketing. In fact, in 1958,
all of these latter operations
were carried on at a significant loss. For the six-year
period, producing profits,
which were shared equally
with the producing nations,
constituted over 96 per cent
of the companies' total profits in all phases of their operations outside of the
"'estern hemisphere."
3. That the industry realizes abnormally high profits and return on investment
in the Middle East.
Mr. oble: "The oil industry is by its very nature
highly speculative. It involves great capital risks.
These risks entitle im'estors
to a higher than usual rate
of return in those areas
where they are successful,
because they must be averaged out against heavy exploration costs and failures
in other areas."
Page 3
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
To All Employees:
December 1960 marks the tenth anniversary of the completion of Tapline
and the commencement of operations. I t is, therefore, a proper occasion for us
to review Tapline's accomplishments; to ask ourselves where Tapline stands
today, and where it is ~oing.
It is not difficult to recount the Company's achie\'cments over these ten
years. To mention but a few: we have successfullv overcome technical difficulties
involving ~istance, climate and political uncert~inties that have few parallels
elsewhere In the world. \\'e have increased the capacity of the pipeline from
320,000 barrels per day to a present capacity of 470,000 barrels per day, while
at the same time incorporating technological improvements to a degree that
has made Tapline perhaps the most efficiently operated pipeline in the world.
In our relations with the Governments and people, in whose countries we are
privileged to operate, we ha\'e, I believe, established a record of cooperation
and good citizenship which is a credit to the petroleum industry.
one of these achie\'ements would have been possible without the full
support and loyalty of our entire work force, and each of you can take pride
in having participated in this successful effort.
.
Today Tapline finds itself facing an uncertain future owing to forces beyond
Its control. The current surplus of tanker capacity throughout the world and
de~resse? tanker rates have faced Tapline with the most serious competition
of Its eXIstence to date. In a rapidly changing political world, Tapline has endeavored to identify itself with the highest aims and objectives of the Governments and citizens of the countries in which it operates. To this end we ha\'e
been engaged in negotiations over a period of years, looking toward equitable
modifications of the Company's agreements with Governments which will at
the. same time safeguard the rights and interests of the peoples of these countries,
while preserving the Company's economic welfare.
. We ~an, I t~ink, look forward with confidence to an economic improvement
which \\'Ill permit the Company, in due course, to realize its full capacity potentia!. I am. equally confident that Tapline will find acceptable bases, freely
nego.tlated .wlth each of the Go\-ernm~~ts, which will permit the Company's
relatIOns With Governments to be stabilIzed upon mutually satisfactory terms.
On the occasion of the Company's tenth anniversary, it is a pleasure to
extend my best wishes to each of you.
Sincerely yours,
THE CRADLE ROW
Beirut
Paul, son of Mr. and Mrs.
. Chabouh.
George
Sidon
Bassam, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Zuhair S. Shehadeh,
Charles, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Fouad B. Bou-Abboud.
Katy, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Kamal Y. Bou-Zeid,
Randa, daughter of Mr, and
Mrs. Toutic A. Sebrawi.
A nu,!,ber ?f delegates and observers who participated in the Second Arab Petroleum Congress,
held In Bezrut October 17 through October 22 IInder the sponsorship of the Secretariat-General
of the League of Arab States, visited the Sidon Terminal installations and the Tapline exhibit
there (ab~e) as the ~ompany's guests. They were escorted by Chief Oil Dispatcher Emile Y.
Ayash (right), of Bmut headquarters, and Mahmoud K. Saab, of Public Relations. (Photo
by Nasr).
OPE
PIPELI
P
I
E
C
C
(Co"ti"lUd from page J)
almo. t 60 per 'ent with an
additional im • tment of only
about 12 per ent of the
oriYinal. In 19':-1, the average
turn-around time of a tanker
at • idon \\a' 33 hour.
Todav it i: about 1+ hour"
The company ha . uccceded in greatly reducing
'o:t: in its struggle to remain
competitive with ever-larger
and 10\\ er-cost tanker' carrving rude from Ra Tanura,
.'audi .-\rabia, we'tward via
the. uez anal. The compam estimates that it can
tran:port a barrel of oil and
load it ab ard a tanker for
2+ per cent le:s than it could
ten \ ear: ago, if its line were
ope~~lting at pre'ent capa ity
of +:-l,OOO harrel' per day.
:ignificant hange' in tanker 'ize have taken place
:ince Taplinc:: 'tarted operation -. The average barrel
per :hip figure ha increa ed
from 11 ,.:- 33 barrel
for
1951 to 206,966 harrel per
. hip in 1960. Owr the same
years the average number of
: hip. loaded per day ha decrea ed from 2.52 to 1.13.
Operationally, the company reached three all-time
peak: in . larch, 1959: maximum average throughput
of +61, 7, barrels per day;
maximum amount of crudc
pumped out of Qaisumah in
I
one day, +99,622 barre-.
(:\Iarch 16); maximum a\'erage total deli\'eries, +50,920
barrels per day.
Because of 'urpluse. of
crude oil and tanker capacity since that time, Tapline
ha: been operating at Ie's
than half of it, throughput
capacity.
The
auxiliary
pumping units have been
off- tream ince .-\pril, 1959
and, ince .\pril of thi year,
the use of electric b 0 ter
unit ha permitted the hutdown of the tw ga -turbine
pumping unit, at Turaif.
Tap'ine Retiree Addresses
The annualli,t of addres- - of retired .-\merican employee' of Tapline follow :
Emmett J. Lyon
11103 :\hrtice Dri\e
Dallas 2 0, Texa
Daniel H. Ball
.:- 2, 0 Del .0 orte Boule\'ard
Sacramento,
alifornia
Howard :\lartin
11 +0 :\lamaroneck Avenue
White Plain
.oew York
Harold E,
1920 Robert Point Road
.'ara ota, Florida
Robert .0. Pur el
100 W. :\larket . treet
Damille, Penn yhania
,;
;
;
;
S
;
COMPA Y CHilO 010 Y: 1950·1960
;
:eptember II, 1950:
.o()\'emher 2, 1950:
.oovemher 10, 1950:
December 2, 1950:
December 1" 1950:
December 22, 1950:
July, 1952:
:\Iay, 1953:
December, 1953:
December, 1953:
:\Iarch, 195+:
June, 195+:
.-\ugust, 19':-+:
•.o\emher, 19':-+:
January 11, 1955:
February, 1955:
April, 1955:
June, 1955:
August, 1955:
December, 195':-:
.-\ugu t, 1956:
,
,,
;
;
Tapline recei\ e it first tank of
oil from. ramco.
Oil i pumped out of Qai. umah
and Badanah to :idon. Turaif and
Rafha are hy-pa ed.
Oil arri\ e. at :idon.
Fir. t tanker loaded at Sidon.
Tapline . tart. pumping oil out of
Rafha,
Tapline starts pumping oil out of
Turaif.
Office building completed at Sidon,
Central ~torehou:e completed at
Turaif.
Fir:t non-portahle family hou:e.
completed at Turaif.
Fir. t of :enior taff . 'hool huilding. completed at Turaif.
Con:truction \lork completed on
Turaif'. offict· building.
Tapline'. Ba e 110 pital at B.ld.lIlah
completed.
ompan)
ho pit.II,
Qai um.lh,
completed.
on. truction \I ork lompleted on
the nur e quarter, Bad.IIl.lh.
Tapline . tut. deli\ ering crude 011
to the :\Iediterrane. n Refining
ompan~ (:\Inlreeo).
Fir. t \ olle\ -ball .lIld tenni court
along the' 'Line eomplett:d .It
Qai.umah.
La:t of 'Line . enior taff chool
huilding. comph:ted .It Rafha.
I'amily Ilou ing Program comph:tcd at :idon,
ommunit\' Center building comleted at Itidanah.
Communit\
Center
building.
completed 'at Turaif .1Ilt! Rafha.
La. t \ olle\ -ball and tenni cOllrt
completed at Badan.lh.
Britton
11011 t' completed at
Turaif.
Temporan boo ter in t.llIed.
Qa~ atain' pllmpholl e completed.
The au ilia~' pumping unit at
:huhah goe on tream.
Jalamid A.P.l'. unit put on 'Line.
Qaf)atain JOe on 'Line.
\laigilah A.P. . p"t on . tream.
Tran ient Staff Ilou e l'ompleted
at Badanah.
The billionth barrel of crude oil
to pass through the Tapline . ystem
reache. Sidon Terminal.
Billionth harrel lifted from Sidon
by the Esso Stuttgart, making her
maiden-vo)age.
Electrical booster in tailed at Turaif go into operation, idling the
ga turbine pumping units there.
Inauguration of the first s\\ imming pool of the Tapline y tern
at Turaif.
0
DRAMATIC EMPLOYEE TRAINING RESULTS ACHIEVED SINCE 1950
A review of Tapline's first
ten operational years shows
that dramatic results have
heen achieved in the training of Arah nationals.
All the company's oil dispatching, originally done by
Americans, now is handled
hv Arah nationals. All shift
f<;reman positions in the
main pump stations and at
Sidon also have been taken
o\'Cr by Arabs. In the company's'medical department,
all but one of ninety-eight
employees arc ,\rabs. Se\enteen employees have graduated from management de\clopment courses.
Originally Tapline manned its Arabian operations
\\ ith hundreds of non-Saudi
employee. from :\Iiddle East
countries, Ital\, llolland and
the
nited States. For intance, in 1956 ther' \\ ere
235 non-Saudi employees
engaged in .\rabian operations. In Octol er, 1960, this
Benjamin Davie
9 0 "'ad \\orth
Pi mo Beach, California
John R. Jone
P. O. Box 2179
Beirut, Lcbanon
John C. Kelley
Box 1+
Burkcville, Texa
Clyde 0-\' • wigart
119 2 th Avenue
• an Franci co, California
Carlo D. Templeton
717 Ea't :\lill -'treet
Portenille, California
William :\1. Wil on
Box 37
Cookson, Oklahoma
,eptember, 1956:
Januan, 19"7:
Juh, 11)57:
,'eptember 3, 1957:
. eptember 21, 1957:
October 1+, 1957:
October 1 , 1957:
December, 11)5 :
April 23, 11)59:
:\lay I, 1959:
Walter H. Koehler
c 0 Dr. C. R. Brice
1179 Green • treet Circle
Gain \ ille, Georgia
April 2+, 1960:
April 27, 1960:
figure had been cut to 170.
Ieanwhile, the Saudi Arab
work force has increased
from 432 to 496 during the
same period.
In Lebanon, between 1956
and October of this year,
the number of expatriate
Tapline employee was reduced from 75 to 51.
Of Tapline's work
force, of 1,093*, a total
of 751, or 69 per cent,
have fi\e or more
,ears' service \I ith the
company. Of this
total, 325 have been
employed by Tapline
for ten years or more,
+26 for at lea t fi\e
years.
( .·Is of October 3/,1961)
Originally, the operation
of the dining halls and
pumphouse in Saudi
rabia was largely in the hands
of expatriate manpower from
many countries. S tat ion
pumphouses now are manned by Saudi operating
crews with the tation operations foreman and the assistant operation foreman the
only remaining expatriates
in that group. For nearly a
year all dining hall have
been operated exclusively by
Saudi nationals. Similar progres has bcen madc in motor transport, \\ elding and
repair, central electrical and
instruments shops, central
mechanical shops, and the
torehouses.
The two basic systems
used in achie\ ing these results \I ere the \'oluntarily attended after-hours de\'elopment schools for English
and Arithmetic, and the job
progress step y tern for numerou jobs of a killed and
semi-skilled description. Beginning with a group of
people \\ ho were usually
ALL-TIME TAPLINE RECORDS
Type of record
:\lax Av. BPD per month received at Sidon
l\lax. bbls. reeei\ed in one dav at Sidon
l\lax. bbls. pumped out of Qa'isumah
. lax. Av. BPD Total deliveries per month
:\lax. cargo (bbls) lifted by one ship
, lax. bbls. lifted in one day (by 6 hips)
:\Iax. Av. size od ships loaded per month
Fastest A\. loading rate per ship in BPI[
Fastest loading rate in one hour (bbls)
Amount
461,878
491,387
499,622
450,920
608,153
1,174,963
239,886
42,192
46,132
Date
March, 1959
May 11, 195
March 16,1959
March 1959
Oct. 24, 1957
Dec. 1, 1959
October 1960
Jan. 5, 1959
Sept. 2 , 1959
onlv familiar with Arabic,
about SO per cent of the
Saudi nationals nO\l use
Engli h varying from nece ary job Engli h to advanced levels required in
tran lation,
interpretation,
and upenision.
In 1959 a peak of 191 employees were on job progress
tep status. This number is
now decreasing as \I hole job
status is reached, and 173
Saudi employees no\\ are on
job progress step statu .
Tapline looks forward to
much more progress by its
work force. In , audi .-\rabia,
each month brings an accumulation of +1 man-vear of
job experience.
SAUDI FOREMEN GET
TRAINING COURSE
:\Iuhammad Turaifi recently became the econd
Sauli Arab Tapliner from
Qaisumah, to complete the
company' .. P u mph 0 use
Shift Foremen Training Program" in Beirut headquarters and the Sidon l\larine
Terminal. Hamad Hathal,
of Qaisumah, had completed the course earlier.
A total of ten audi Arab
employees from along the
'Line, will be gi\'en this
special training.
OPERATIONS REPORT: 1950 - 1960
0
R. K. Curran
63 Treat Lane
ncord, California
page 5
PIPELI E PERISCOPE
'I'ear
'id01l Receipts
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
(Thru
ov.)
5, 00,026
107,503,904114,536,152
112,226,020
116,197,2 2
117,574,250
120,133,494
126,912,900
134,287,438
123,364,456
82,242,000
Totals
1,160,777,922
118,533
114,107
122,658
129,588
134,929
141,986
140,648
156,637
173,908
3,625,2 0
109,050,479
113,19+,315
113,5 1,6 3
116,450,56
116,5 6,010
121,144,4 0
125,433,216
134,451,308
123,376,935
298,76
309,27+
311,1 3
319,0+3
319,414
330,996
343,653
36 ,360
33 ,019
378
206,966
82, 64,000
247,355
8,191
138,735
1,159,758,278
294,531
312,940
307,469
318,349
322,121
328,234
347,707
367,911
337,985
3,625,2 0
109,050,479
113,194,315
113,581,506
116,370,471
113,745,456
117,422,140
121,238,391
130,791,632
119,126,981
298,76
309,274
311,182
318,823
311,631
320,826
332,160
358,333
326,375
25
920
992
926
89
843
827
862
835
685
245,491
78,233,000
233,531
316,030·
1,136,379,651
311,081"
•• Average Deliveries for 3653 Days.
Figures for
A?-'e.Total
Del-BPD
Ave. BPD
Average Sidon Receipts for 3673 Days.
.B.
Total
Deliveries
1\'0. of Average
Ships Bbls Ship
Del. to Ships
Ave. BPD
ovember, 1960, are e timated.
317,4 1"
().fJi~iaL(\' opened. 011 ,'eptemba 4, 1954, Taplille's Rase Jlm,hita/ at Radall7h hrings
m('/ilcal ami surgIcal caT(' to t!uJl/sl/luls of /Ilt II, 1('01llPII alld children in Saudi Arahia.
(Photo hy .\'lHr),
.
1958
~
By mid-195R, the 130,000 BPD capacity increase program had been cOlllpleted. Part of tlte
the installation of au ,ilimy pUIIIping units at SIll/bah, Ja/amid (aboy'e), Qaryatain
and In'mgdah. (Pltoto by -,"0.1'1').
progrl~m 1~'a.S
fh cathodic protlCtion prop,ram for the 7'apline system ~fOs startt'll as soon a thl' pil'l
,ra' laid ill tIlt "round. (athodic protcrtion units Let rc installul in l'l1r11 of till' fOll/
/,ump ,tatiuns, Qaryatain and ,i Ion Terminal. ,tartld late in 195 I, construction
of tIll /irst wthodic protcction station ~ClIS completed in ]anuary, 1952, at Km. IOi2,
111 ,\ril1. Taplinl nme has 2·~ IIIUlttl'/ldpd C. P. units Wrll :I~ thl' one pictur/'d ahm'/'.
I
Photo by Sasr).
Commlmit\' flntl rs at Badll1lah, Rafl/ll alld fum!f 1eer op/'nd during the last quarter
ilt on thl' '/.ine Y.:as the one at ()aisulllah.
ese cC11ters IlOllS/' 1111 up-to-dat; cafetaia
Ilfuippt d 1dth a lIIodl"" hal?1 ry, in crt (//11 (lhing facilities alld the latest in electrical
I?itrlu'll t'lfuipllll'nt. Tit/' /I Crt ation (( IItn ( ?m'e) contain a cincma, snarl? bar 1cith
SIIda fountain, pool and tablt tllmi,' tahln, ' {ffehoards and a lihrar\,. (Photo by /I arold
E. ('1'/11.,).
olI9'i.'i. Pir:' of tlu C. C. hui/dinr:~ to ht
huilt at a (ost I~l ahout " 3ill,OOO IIIi'll,
TE
YEAR V\ILESTONES
1959
1952
Tlte billionth barrel of crude oil to pass through tlte Tapline system reached tlte Sidon Terminal
at about 10 a.m., April 23, 1959. On hal/d to u;atch Operatil/g Forelllall AI/llibal Faddoul tahe
a sample of the billionth barrel as it passed through the Terminal's tonI? farm 11lll/I~fold ycere,
from left, Superintendent 0/ Operations Alan C. Selsoll,fol'1l1er Tapliller William R. lIelhnll/w,
Chief Engineer A.rtlwr E. Olson, .tTanager of Operations Dallas T. Pine/mey alld r'ice President of Operations Tf'alter E. Locher. The billionth barrel of crude to reach Sidon 'lCOS h/ted at
(HOO hours, .1Iay 1, by the Esso Stuttgart on her lIIaiden-~'oyage. The cargo ~cos destined for
II'ilhell1lshazo('n, Germany.
Comtruction of famil\' houses alono the 'Line, uch as tllO. e ~hmnl aboL'e at Rafl/ll,
Lcas fir, t tarted ;It 1'1;1'(/// ill .Ua) , 19-:2. Trees and shrubbelY hm'e been planted around
falllily housing areas in all of tlte four PUlllp . tation. (Photo by SaSl).
f)uring the 10. t quarter of 1956, follownr: I closinr; of the .....·ue::: Canal, imtallation
of telllp01'lln' hooster units on thl' lIIain lilll til 'Ill. 256, <;39 and 6i4 (?I'here the ab01'e
picture yew talu'n) I'nah/1I1 'l'apl1n/ to ino Ise its dai(\' throughput by appro.\imately
li,OllO barrels. (Photo by Rafic}. Fanou
011 April 27, 1960 the first swimming pool of the Tapline system yeas officially opened at
In Or/obeT, 1953, construrtion u'ork started on the CentraL .11echanicaL Shop at Turaif.
An interior 'i.,int.. of the shop, compLeted 19 months Later, is shown above, (Photo by Tas~),
Arriving in port at 6:10 a. m" Octoher 23, 1957, the Cniverse Leader, the yeor/d's
largest supertanker at the time, took on the largest amount of crude oil /'1'er loaded
onto a single ship from Sidon terminal, The huge vessel took aboard 601,189 barrels of
crude oil in 18 hours, 35 minutes, (Photo by asr).
Turaif. The 25 x 60 foot pool has underwater lighting and the most modem type of
circulating u'ater system. A translucent, corrugated 1'00/ shades the shalla'lL' part of the pool.
Included in the capital budget approved recently by Tap/ine's Board of Directors are s~cjm­
ming pools for Badanah in 1961 and Rafha and Qaisumah in 1962, (Photo by John R. Bell).
Page 8
PIPELI rE PERISCOPE
PIPELI E PERISCOPE
Hamdan, A. Hassan, F. Suleiman and I. Abdel-Rahman.
Wedding felicitations are
due Ali Saleh, an orderly at
the Rafha hospital, who married recently while on long
vacation. Ali and his bride
plan to live in Rafha town.
Badanah
Badanah employees were
guests at an open house held
at the Government Relations
offices, October 17, as part
of a program to familiarize
them with all the departments in the station.
With the coming of autumn and the reopening of
schools, the medical staff of
the Badanah Base Ilospital
is busy again, making physical check-ups on the tudents and teachers of the
'Ar'ar Amirate School. II
Tapline medical units along
the 'Line provide such medical care.
During a general meeting
attended h\· the ladies of the
station, an~ious little aggregations were spotted here
and there, busily electing officers of the Badanah Women's Group for the coming
six-month period. Mrs. Otis
E. Ritter has been entrusted
with the cares and strains of
presidency. Mrs. John N.
Samaha was chosen as
Chairman of the entertainment committee.
Mrs. Jacob D. Thaddeus
and children are back in Badanah after spending a few
days in Beirut.
Irs. Louis 1. Blais, of
Qaisumah, was the guest of
the John
. Samahas, before lea\'ing the field permanently at the end of October.
lany happy returns were
wished Jacqueline White,
who celebrated her eighth
birthday by sponsoring a
picnic for some of her
friends. Mr. and Mrs. John
G. White acted as chaperones.
A speedy recovery is wished Harold L. Krapp, a recent patient at Tapline's
Base Hospital.
Raymond G. Badran and
George N. Kassab, of Beirut Accounting, were in Badanah recently on a business
assignment.
Congratulations to Mamlouk bin Salem, of Mainte-
Turaif
Badanah's youngsters held a hilariously successful Halloween party for their mothers at the
School House. 1I1any characters were portrayed at the festival by the group that included, from
left, front row: Tony Prince (holding the hand of his father, Dr. Marcel N. Prince), Ram::i
and George Khouri, Sereen Thaddeus, Rima Turk, David Thaddeus (who shared with sister
Sereen the first prize for the most original costume as pumpkins), 1I10na Turk, and Bill White.
In the ba~kground are: John Samaha III, Aziz Elia, Jacqueline White, Gail Hill, Carolyn
Cr.osthwazt (who w~n ~he a.ward for the funniest costume as the devil), Katherine White, Cynthza Samaha, 1I1arJone Rtlter (who took the prize for the prettiest costume as Aunt Jemima)
and Lynn Hill. (Photo by Rafic J. Fanous).
nance, on his recent marriage
in Damascus. The newlyweds have set up housekeeping in 'Ar'ar.
The Amir of Qasseem
\'isited Badanah recently and
was the guest of honor at a
dinner party hosted by Jaza'a Fahed, of Maintenance.
While in 'Ar'ar, the Amir
had a chance to inspect Saudi Ownership Plan houses
built by the company for its
employees.
Vacationing are Abdul
Rahman Abdullah, Muhammad Salman, Muhammad
Sadyan, Rafic J. Fanous,
Abdul-Mohsen Hassan, Abdul-Aziz Suleiman, Muhammad Jeneif, Marzook Feissal,
Hanna Faddoul and Hassan
Muhammad. Back from
holiday are Issa Fahd, Saleh
Sa'ad,
Mamlouk Salim,
A. Abdul-Aziz, Muhammad
Sayer, Muhammad Oleyan,
Miss Fatme Abou-Zahr,
Issa Ahmed and
afe'e
Muhaimid.
Rafha
Rafha's outstanding event
in October undoubtedly has
been the organization of a
station volley-ball club, with
Dr. Kamal H. Aoun as its
president. A volley-ball team,
captained by Saad S. Dabaghi, has started regular training. What our players lack
in experience they make up
for in enthusiasm.
The company hospital
staff at Rafha noticeablv
misses Joseph T. Boulo~,
who left the field permanently after five years of service with Tapline. A farewell
dinner party was tendered
him by Dr. and Mrs. Kamal
H. Aoun. Joe, we are told,
will soon be leaving for the
United States. In wishing
him bon voyage, we would
like to welcome to our community his replacement,
John
chkar, who trans-
ferred here from the Badanah Base Hospital. During
off-duty hours, Mr. Achkar
is giving French lessons to
young American children.
So far, he has three students.
Laboratory
Although
Technician Bahige W. Saoud
has returned from holiday in
Lebanon, we are not seeing
much of him. Bahige reportedly is spending most of his
leisure time doing "sit-ups"
and "deep knee bends," to
remove the extra pounds he
added to his frame while on
vacation.
H. Abdullah vacationed in
Lebanon and the Syrian Region, while Khalifah Ahmad
spent his holiday between
Dhahran, AI-Khobar, Abqaiq and Hufuf, his hometown.
Leaves are over for S. Muhammad, M. Mohsen, S.
Abbad, M. Suleiman and
Adrianus C. De Raad, but
they have just started for S.
I
I
The Turaif
Women's
Group has elected officers
and executive members for
the coming year. Mrs. Dale
E. Garrison was named president; Mrs. Carl Sham,
vice-president; Mrs. John
F. Pfister, secretary-treasurer; and Mesdames Clarence
G. Rush, Jan I. Gyjsen,
and John V. Torres, executive committee members.
The newly-elected committee got away to a flying
start by sponsoring a most
successful Halloween barbecue for Turaif families and
their guests. Prizes were given by the group to a number of tiny tots who masqueraded with very original costumes. They were: Dudley
Booth, Katia Jensen, Janice
Quick and Stanley Tracey.
Mubarak
Welcome to
Fhaid, who transferred to
Turaif Government Relations from Aramco-Dhahran
in October as a typist clerk.
Mubarak hails from Sakaka
el-Jauf and received his secondary education from its
Amirate School.
Dr. Elias F. Henein arrived in Turaif recently to replace Dr. Georges S. Bridi,
who has been transferred to
Tapline's Base Hospital in
Badanah.
Fond farewells recentlv to
Abdullah bin Ali, of -the
Motor Transport di\'ision,
on departure to the Syrian
Region of the U.A.R. on
holiday; Fa raj Shamran, of
the
Central Mechanical
Shop, on departure to Jordan and the Syrian Region
on vacation; Muhammad bin
Ayed, on departure to his
hometown at Baga'a to meet
his family and relatives ;
Mansour Muhammad , of
Services, who is off to Jordan on vacation; and Maurice M. asr, of Storehouses,
who headed to Lebanon to
spend his annual leave with
his wife and children.
Others on the vacation
list are l\1. :\Iurzam, K.
l\luhammad , H. l\Ia'shan
and H. Khami .
Back after spending his
leave in the vicinitv is housing and laundry steward Ali
Ahmad Saif. His family has
recently moved to Turaif
town to set up housekeeping there.
Farewell to Muhammad
bin Sa'ad, of the :\lotor
Transport divi ion, who
transferred
to Operations
and Repairs, Qaisumah.
Muhammad Rumaikhany,
of Storehouses, has meanwhile returned from a twomonth-assignment in Badanah station.
l\lrs. Hassan bin Ali, wife
of our senior laundry operator, is recovering sati factorily from major surgery at
the Badanah Base Hospital.
Sidon
Thoughts while licking
postage stamps... Iichel A.
Makdisi, Boulos D. Haddad,
Antoine H. Fayyad and Maroun K. Roukoz are among
the few Tapliners who worked on the survey of the marine terminal area in August,
1947. Joseph I. Sayfie and
your reporter also worked at
the "Zahrani Camp" thirteen years ago, when it consisted mainly of aluminum
shacks used as sleeping quarters, offices, mess halls and
storehouses.
, chool children at Sidon
held a highly successful Halloween party fur their parents at the terminal Auditorium on Octoher 2 . Prizes
went to .-'lice Ludvig en,
:\Iarv Tronstad and :\Ielvin
esheim for masquerading
in original costumes at the
gay festival of make-helie\'
and mi chief.
\\'inners of the October
duplicate hridge tournament
sponsored by the Zahrani
Country Club were :\Ir. and
Mrs. 'rheodore Khoriaty.
High temperature, high
winds, high tempers and
high scores \\ ere the order
of the day at the Z. .c. golf
course in October. Joint winner of the se\enth of a series of monthly medal golf
competitions there were Bvron Brown and Homer il.
:\Ietz, who posted net 71's
to share top honors.
Welcome to Ha sib D.
Baassiri, who transferred
here recently from Turaif's
Central Weiding Shop.
Films of the econd and
third tele\'ision debates between president-elect John
F. Kennedy and presidential
candidate Richard:\1. lixon
\\'ere shown at the Zahrani
Auditorium on October 3D,
courtesy of the nited States Information Sen·ice.
The "Bad Taste Partv"
staged by the Z.c.c. Entertainment Committee Octo"
T
Page 9
ber 29 at the Auditorium was
a howling uccess. Everybody had a wonderful time...
and- a good opportunity to
dance, play games and enjoy
a deliciou pot luck supper.
Beirut
.\ Friden Flexow riter machine has been ordered for
the P & T . tandardization
and ,tock ontrol office, to
be used for printing new
standard stock catalog sheets
and typing foreign materials
F1exo\\ riting
requisitions.
implifies the issuance of
such catalog sheets and requi itions and reduces the
number of man-hour needed to proof-read them. The
machine will be recei\'ed in
Beirut in January, 1961.
:\Ieantime, a sim"ilar machine ha been rented.
BOil 'voyage to :\ Ii s :\Iary
Khoun, who left for the
C nited" ,'tates on •.Q\'ember
21, on long \acation. Stateside, :\Iis Khour\ will be
visiting her cousin, \~ho own
the "Khouri's Furniture
Stores" in Binghampton,
l\ew York. She \\ill also
pend time in Georgia and
Philadelphia. lIer return
trip includes a stopQ\'er in
London.
Newly arri\ed in Beirut
is Yanessa Susan, the infant
daughter of :\1 r. and :\lrs.
hehade, born
:\Iichel S.
(Conti/lued /leY! page)
/"
Faculty members of the Sational College of Choueifat tour Sidon Terminal installations with
}\lahmoud K. Soab, of Beirut Public Relations (sixth from r(t: ht ), as part of a Tapline schools
program designed to familiarize teachers and students with company operations. (Photo by Nasr).
Page 10
PIPELI
E PERISCOPE
PIPELL 'E PERISCOPE
Page II
'LINE TEACHERS
MEET AT A.C.S.
(Continued from page 9)
! TQ\'ember 18 at 12:45 p.m.
Weight: 7 pounds.
Customs Clearance functions and responsibilities in
connection with the company's aircraft operations at
Beirut International Airport,
formerly handled by Travel
& Air Transport, were transferred to the Puchasing &
Traffic Division on November 16.
The P & T's Cargo and
Traffic Section (handling
receiving, shipping and other
related acti\'ities) has been
moved from St.
lichel
\rarehouse in the port area
into Arida Warehouse, in
back of the Tapline offices.
MARTIN RETIRES;
IN AREA 16 YEARS
A career extending over
more than a quarter of a
century in the oil industry is
now past hi tory for Howard
1\lartin, Tapline's Community De\oelopment Representative, who announced his
retirement effective ovember 1. Mr. Martin was in his
sixteenth continuous year of
service in the area, when he
was feted by eighteen of his
colleagues at a farewell luncheon at the Bristol Hotel,
Beirut.
Originally from Los Angeles, California, 1\1r. Martin
entered the indu trv in January 1930, with Sheil Oil Co.
Inc., as line walker and dispatcher - jobs he performed for the next ele\en years.
After a three-year break,
:\Ir. 1\Iartin retu~ned to the
industry in r\"O\'ember, 1944,
when he joined Aramco as
assistant dispatcher. In October, 1950, he transferred to
Tapline as shift dispatcher.
ine months later, he was
reclassified to oil dispatcher
- a job title he held until
March, 1953, when he was
promoted to community development representative.
Married to the former
Miss Evelyn Roe, Mr. Martin is the father of two children: Theodore, 23 and Lynda Ann, 6. The Martins plan
to reside in White Plains,
ew York.
Congratulations to ! . ahid
A. Elias and Salim Chowairy
on their respective weddings
to
the
former
1isses
Massouk Makdisi and Jean
D'arc J ubrail.
Qaisumah
A warm welcome is extended to Hmood el-Fahed,
who moved here with his family from Turaif to serve as
Qaisumah station's storekeeper. With Tapline for more
than a year now, Mr. e1Fahed originally was a materials specialist.
:\lanv farewell functions,
includi~g dinner parties
hosted by Station Superintendent and frs. Horace e.
Davis and Senior Radio
Technician Hendrick C. Van
Putten, were gi;en in October to 'Ir. and Mrs.Louis M.
Blais to wish them good luck
on their return "home." Mr.
Blais joined Tapline three
years ago at Turaif as lead
diesel mechanic. His last job
classification at Qaisumah
was assistant operations foreman.
In October more friends
and colleagues departed as
Dawood Salman, Ali Ghanim and Muhammad Omar
left the field permanently.
Messrs. Salman and Ghanim joined the company as
shift foremen in 1950 and
1952,
respectively.
Mr.
Omar joined the company
ranks in August, 1951, as a
general helper.
Qaisumah's welcome wagon happily receives Station
Operations Foreman and
Mrs. William R. Pickett and
infant son, William J r., on
return from vacation in the
United States. William J r.,
was born in the States last
July.
Hendrick C. Van Putten
has resumed his duties as
Senior Radio Technician
after spending a memorable
holiday in Lebanon with his
wife, who had arri\'ed in Beirut by ship from the etherlands especially for the occasIOn.
The list of vacationers includes Omar Awadh, Fahed
Rashid and Saleh Khazraj.
Leaves are over, however,
for Awadh Sharaf, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Mubarak, Salim Abdel-Aziz and
Marzouk Saleh.
Station electrical instrument man Matthys H. Gerritsen is with us again, on
return from vacation in Rotterdam.
The annual meeting of
Tapline senior staff elementarv school teachers will be
heid in Beirut, December 8
and 9, at the American Community School. Dr. Dwight
Knox, Principal of A.e.S.,
is expected to deliver a short
welcoming address that will
precede the group's discussion of such topics as "Tapline School Problems," the
"Calvert System" and "Teacher's General Instruction
File. "
Tapline teachers are also
scheduled to hear Jane 1\lonroe, of A.e.S., on "Modern
Mathematics in the Elementarv School;" Mrs. Rose
Ch"urchill, of A.C.S., on
"The Social Studies Unit;"
and Professor L. Cajoleas, of
the American University of
Beirut, on "What is a Curriculum?"
Slated to attend the teachers' meeting are Training
Coordinator Kenneth E.
Parr; Misses Mary Simaan
and Suad Fayyad, of Sidon;
Mrs. Kamal H. Aoun, of
Rafha; Mrs. Raymond H.
Massey and Mrs. John N.
Samaha, of Badanah; and
Mesdames HaskeIl Hargrove
James F. Chaplin, Robert H.
Lewis, Carl Scharn, Clarence P. Booth and Parr, of
Turaif.
Students at the Qaisumah Amirate School pose for a pictllre zcith their teachers before leoz'ing the school bl/ildinE{ for recess.
(Photo by Hendrick l. Van PI/tten).
. ,
Remodeled Amirate Schools Open
Headmaster lI10ussa Sa' ad receives the I?eYs to the enlarged
and remodelled Amirate School building at TI/raif fr01ll Government Relations Representative Dale E. Garrison. (Photo courtesy of ,Ur. Garrison).
Feting retiring Community Development Representative Howard Martin (sixth from left) at
a farewell luncheon at Beirut's Bristol Hotel were, from left.' Frederick W. New, Ohannes S.
Aynadjian, John P. O'Hagan, Fouad N. Khabbaz, Executive Vice President William R.
Chandler, Melhem G. Melhem, Vice President of Operations Walter E. Locher, Robert Kareh,
Robert G. Thompson, John J. Kelberer, Henry S. Smith, Joseph J. Nassar, Richard R. Burnett,
Fahd M. Maasry, Dallas T. Pinckney, Mikhael G. Jeha, Alan C. elson and Anwar A. Sabbah. (Photo by asr).
Primary grade students at the Amirate School in 'Ar'ar. during a session devoted to studying arithmetic. The A1111rate
schools were constructed by Tapline as part of the compa1ly's
convention agreement with the Saudi Arab Government.
(Photo by Rafic J. Fanous).
Putting away memories of
summer holidays,
Saudi
Arab student "along
the
'Line ha\'e dusted off their
book satchels and ettled
down to classwork at thc
four enlarged and completely reconditioned
Amiratc
Schools at Turaif, Rafha,
'Ar'ar and Qaisumah. Except for minor items, additions to the schools at the
four locations \\ ere complcted by Tapline thi summer.
New construction at the e
schools includes the addition of cla sroom , teachers'
and athletic office and la\'atories. Floors ha\'e been covered \\ ith terrazzo tiles, ne\\
ceilings plastered and old
ones completely reconditioned and painted.
Installation of playground
equipment ha been completed at Turaif and 'Ar'ar,
but remains to be done at
the other two location .
At the Turaif .\mirate
School, where 3,750 quare
feet of floor space and 2,125
square feet of cO\'ered walkways ha\'e been added, more
than 450 tudents again are
knuckling down to the three
R's of education. nder the
supervision of headmaster
Moussa . a'ad, the Turaif
Amirate Schools' teaching
staff is composed of twelve
tutors
Rashid Yo us ef,
Younes Abdul-Rahman, Awadh Salaim, . a'id Abbas,
Te\\ tic :\Ii, Jalal :\luhammad, ,'azmi al-Barghouti,
:\Iustafa al-Safaraini and
'Adel Qushtah.
Thc Amirate ,'chool at
'Ar'ar is nO\\ accomodating
some 450 students in its
primary and secondary sections.
Enrollment at Qaisumah's
Amirate School numbers 34.
The hoys are studying under
the tutorship of school principal .\bdul-.\ziz al-Shahdali and teachers Sabri Hassan and .'aleh Turki.
Re umption of cia e at
Rafha, on the other hand,
\\"a preceded by an opening ceremon~ attended b~
about 75 gue t
including gO\'crnmcnt and Amirate
official, company employees
and
teacher '. Deli\ering
hort addres cs, C"staz Bakhit ,aleh al-' Ala\\ i, chool
director, Dudley P. Harbin,
Rafha Station' Superintendent, and Ilus ein • uleiman,
Di\i ion Inspector from alJauf, . audi .\rabia, joined
in expre ing their appreciation for the efforts made by
Tapline and the Saudi Arab
:Ylinistry of Education to
enlarge the school and improve its educational program.
A group of sixteen students sang a national hymn
before the guests were conducted on an inspection tour
of the school.
P
OPE
12
o
10
( ContmUl!d from page 1 )
public of • yna, wa igned
ptember 11, 194i, hortly
after con truction had begun. But, in the pring of
1949, with the pipeline contruction pushing rapidly
w tward acro
audi Arabia, final approval to cro
Hia ,till had not been obuined.
At thi
tage, although
million of dollar alreadv
had been spent on con truction, there wa danger that
the project would have to be
abandoned.
eriou con ideration wa gi\'en to an alternate plan to route the
pipeline outh of it pre ent
p -ition and through Egypt.
C nder thi' plan, the line wa
to be floated acro the Red
ea, then routed up the we t
coa t of the inai Penin ula,
under the uez Canal north
of Cairo to a terminal point
west of Alexandria. Considerable preliminary engineering work wa done and
di cu ion were held in
Cairo in . 'ovember, 194 ,
with the Egyptian gO\'ernment. King Farouk, then
ruler of Egypt, wa enthuia tic about the idea.
_'ot until :\Iav, 1949,
when the Tapline' convention wa ratified by the yrian parliament, did the
pipeline become a certainty.
The formidable job
of
building main pump tation ,putting down the pipeline road that today carries
e\'er increa ing load' of commercial good , of developing
water upplies, could now
mo\"e ahead. By eptember,
19-0, Tapline wa receiving
oil from Aramco at Qaisumah. By • 'O\'emher, the
crude wa' on the move westward acro four countries;
on .'ovember 10, the first
oil flowed into idon's storage tanks. The historic day
marking the first deliveries
was near.
In view of the vastness and
complexity of all that had
led to the starting up of operations, opening-day ceremonies were remarkably
imple and brief. About 10
a.m., persons at idon for
the ceremonies - including
A. C. Long, now chairman
of the Te aco, Inc.; Fred
Davi ,of ramco, and dozen of others who were or
were to become famou
names in the world oil indust!)·, took their places under a temporary helter built
near the hore controls. A.
'. Horne, then general manager, poke briefly, informalIv and without note .
, Appropriately, the ceremonial task of turning the
valve that released the fir t
barrel of oil wa carried out
bv the late B. E. Hull, dean
of world pipeline expert and
Tapline' fir t pre ident. At
10:30 a.m. :\lr. Hull began
turning the . '0. 1 \"ah'e
wheel.
"It was a 'imple, olemn
moment," Yice Pre ident W.
A. Campbell, then :\.s i tant
General :\Ianager and :\Ianager of Government Relation , recalled. "There wa
no applause, Then, handshaking all around."
:\lr. Hull, W. R. Walden,
then foreman of operation ,
and other' continued opening val\e , which were then
all hand-operated, but which
have ince been automated.
l\lost of the guests then
boarded launche and paid
ceremonial \'isits to the S
Petersen and the • . Kentucky, also at . idon, along
with the . . Olympic Laurel, to pick up first-day cargoes of crude. Back ashore,
champagne cork popped before the group headed back
to Beirut, where tltat e\"ening
a party marking the occa ion
wa held at the home of • lr.
Horne for Lebanese cabinet
members and various other
government officials.
On Decemger 2, 1950,
Tapline's large physical
plant was only a skeleton of
what was to come. For years
the prime concern was, and
had to be, completing a basic
oil operations facility. The
Sidon area was a mass of
partly exposed pipes, unlandscaped and strewn with
large rocks. The main pump
stations consisted chiefly of
pumphouses and their diesel
pumps and constructiondays barracks. Men lived in
16xl6-foot aluminum huts.
ives and children were till
back home.
F. W. ew, then project
engineer, recall well the
hectic nature of the earlv
days. "I had a half day in
Beirut to get married and
honeymoon," lr. ew said.
"The boss said I had to be
back at 6-A (now Qaryatain,
Jordan) the ne t day." And
the ne t day Ir. ew was
there with h'i bride, the former Kav l\lcCluskev of 'ew
York, living in a 16 16 hut.
. till to come were familv
and bachelor permanent
housing along the 'line, community center', ho pitals,
the Amirate building, employee d eve lop men t
school , community and employee development program, and, certainl~ not
least, the many technological
development that have increa ed the pipeline's original daily capacity from
320,000 barrel' to a present
4iO,OOO barrels.
During construction, industry innovations introduced by Tapline had included use of pipeline as
large a 30-31 inches in diameter and as thin as a quarter of an inch; restrained,
above-ground con truction,
then highly controver ial,
was u ed and pro\'ed prac-
tical on much of the line.
ub equently, application
of the theory of combined
tr
raised operating presure to the highe t levels in
the industry.
nattended
ga -turbine powered pumping unit were introduced.
surge-control sy tern was devised and the late t VHF
communications technique
were applied, for the first
time in private industry. Operations research techniques
employing a simulation model and electronic computer
were undertaken with affiliated companies and arc continuing, with a \ iew to\\ ard
effecting further impro\ements in the future.
CHAMIEH, SALIBA
STUDY IN NEW YORK
.-\.s istant chief accountant
Suhail . 1. Chamieh and
Kalim • '. :aliba, 'upeni or,
analysis and bookkeeping
:ection, arc in . 'cw York
to attend a . lobil Oil Company training cours.: in management. They also will
review accounting reports at
Tapline's ,'e\\ York Office
and tour .\ramco's comptroller and treasurer's office
and the I. R. :\1. center. The
two mcn arc cheduled to
return to Beirut headquarters by December 10.
Tapline's use of floating rafts to solve the problem of changing
the 134-foot-in-diameter metal roofs on the two Sidon Terminal shore storage tanks (see Pipeline Periscope for May,
1960) is attracting industry-wide interest. Pictured above is
a photostat of a clipping from a recent isSUl! of Pipeline Industry (published in Houston, Texas) introduang the simple,
time-saving method to its readers. Several Major United
States dailies also carried a U.P.l. bulletin, the lead paragraph
of which read "SIDO , Lebanon - The newest thing afloat in this ancient Mediterranean port city is a raft launched
insitle an oil storage tank."
I