A Citizen’s Guide

Four entities, including two companies little-known in Alaska, have applied for an exclusive state license to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope.

The Alaska Gasline Port Authority, TransCanada, AEnergia LLC, and Sinopec ZPEB all submitted applications under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday evening at a news conference in Anchorage.

A fifth entity, the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, submitted a proposal for a spur line connecting a main pipeline to the Anchorage area.

“Today’s progress under AGIA demonstrates to the world that Alaska is well on our way,” Palin said. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s not a lot of beef in the Senate minority’s press release, but they did get it out quick. Sen. Therriault, the minority leader, said Palin’s AGIA “appears to have moved us a step closer.” Sen. Wilken said the governor should be applauded. And Sen. Dyson said he wasn’t surprised at all by Conoco’s desire to stay involved in the process. I guess that’s what happens when you have a big announcement without a whole lot of information.

The governor just had her press conference down in Anchorage with Tom Irwin, Pat Galvin, and Marty Rutherford. Palin announced the applications that came in — ANGDA, AGPA, Transcanada, AEnergia, and Sinopec ZPEB — and talked about what a great day it was for Alaska. She’s usually upbeat, and was no different tonight. Read the rest of this entry »

JUNEAU, Alaska — ConocoPhillips wants to build potentially the world’s largest, most expensive energy facility — a multibillion dollar gas pipeline running from Alaska’s North Slope to Midwestern states.

The project, with a price tag of up to $42 billion, would be worth it, if it can help supply North American homes and businesses with heating fuel for years to come.

ConocoPhillips, Alaska’s leading North Slope oil producer, said Friday it’s “prepared to make significant investments, without state matching funds, to advance this project.”

It’s the first proposal in the state-sponsored competition for a pipeline to tap the rich fields where the industry has identified about 36 trillion cubic feet of proved reserves that could be shipped within the next 10 to 12 years. Read the rest of this entry »

No waiting around for that 5 p.m. AGIA deadline! ConocoPhillips announced this morning they had submitted a proposal for a 4 bcf pipeline into Canada.

“ConocoPhillips is purposely presenting the State of Alaska with a choice; this proposal provides an alternative path forward for the ANS gas pipeline project which is, in our view, the most certain way to create a vibrant and successful development effort for this project.” Read the rest of this entry »

ANCHORAGE — The Alaska subsidiary of oil giant BP PLC pleaded guilty on Thursday to a federal environmental crime for failing to prevent a crude spill across a swath of delicate tundra in America’s largest oil field.

The guilty plea by BP Exploration Alaska Inc. is part of a settlement with the government over a 200,000-gallon spill at the Prudhoe Bay field in March 2006. It was the largest spill ever in the vast, oil-rich region of Arctic Alaska known as the North Slope.

Under the agreement, BP pleaded guilty to one violation of the Clean Water Act, a misdemeanor, and will pay $20 million in fines for allowing the pipeline to corrode. The company will also be under probation for a maximum of three years. Read the rest of this entry »