A Citizen’s Guide

The Alaska Gasline Port Authority will have a chance to present its project to the newly formed Senate Special Committee on Natural Gas Development.

Sen. Ralph Seekins, R-Fairbanks, on Thursday invited the port authority to present its proposal for development of North Slope natural gas to the committee, which Seekins chairs.

“That project, as well as any other project, deserves their day,” he said.

Seekins also said he would request that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee ask consultants hired by the Legislature to further study the port authority’s proposal.

Seekins made the statements Thursday afternoon in Fairbanks at a special meeting hosted by Interior lawmakers on the proposed natural gas pipeline contract with BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil.

Lori Backes, a port authority employee, thanked Seekins for the invitation.

“We will take you up on that,” she said.

Republican Sen. Gene Therriault of North Pole, who chairs the Budget and Audit Committee, said he supported further study of the proposal.

Consultants hired by the Legislature were studying the plan earlier this year but were asked to switch their focus when Gov. Frank Murkowski introduced his proposal to change the oil production tax, Therriault said. Since then, the port authority has changed its plan to include a pipeline into Canada, in addition to one to Valdez, where the gas would be cooled and shipped as liquefied natural gas.

The consultants, who are with Econ One Research Inc., reported on the economics of an LNG project at a committee meeting held earlier this month in Anchorage but did not consider the port authority’s “Y-line” proposal.

Therriault said Thursday he was very interested in seeing the figures for the more recent proposal.

Seekins’ invitation to the port authority came in response to a question from Fairbanks accountant Garry Hutchison, who accused the port authority of “attempting to obstruct” the proposed contract with the three oil companies. Hutchison asked whether any of the seven lawmakers at the meeting knew of a study showing that the port authority’s proposal would bring the greatest value to the state.

None of the legislators said they did.

Seekins said after the meeting that he would welcome presentations from other potential developers as well, including TransCanada and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.

“If they want to come talk to us, that’s great too,” he said.

Staff writer Stefan Milkowski can be reached at smilkowski@newsminer.com or 459-7577.