The pipeline has a capacity of 860,000 bbl/d of oil.

Vice President of Tesoro Arbitrage Trading Doug Koskie said "In addition to exposing Tesoro to an array of crude oils typically marketed in the Atlantic Basin, our abilities to utilise the tankage dedicated for Tesoro's exclusive use at Petroterminal Panama (PTP) and the reversed pipeline are expected to afford our company strategic advantages related to freight, storage, blending, and delivery scheduling optimisation."

Originally built to carry crude oil from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, the pipeline was closed in 1996 after a decrease in Alaskan oil shipments. The reversed pipeline now transports oil in the opposite direction.

BP Products North America and PTP signed an agreement in 2008 to modernise and reverse the pipeline to ship BP’s Angolan and other crude oil to west coast United States refineries.