Alaskan LNG Export Project Outlined
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Major companies are planning a $45 to 65 billion project to build a 1290 km gas pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in the southern part of the state.
ExxonMobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP, and TransCanada announced that they have agreed to combine formerly competing projects to supply gas to the Lower 48 states into a single project aimed at Asian markets. No timetable was been set for the start of construction, which would take five to six years.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that Prudhoe Bay and other North Slope fields hold 100 x 109 m3 of “stranded” gas that for the past 35 years has been uneconomical to ship to U.S. markets.
The gas pipeline would parallel the existing oil pipeline from Prudhoe Bay. Various sites in and around Valdez are being considered for the gas liquefaction plant and export terminal. The state has been pressuring the companies to cooperate on a gas pipeline. Last January, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell asked them to provide data and set a timeline on a project by Oct. 1.
For more information: www.gov.state.ak.us
