Alaskan governor makes changes to AGDC board

Alaska governor Michael Dunleavy has made changes to the board of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), the company in charge of developing the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. 

Governor Dunleavy named department of labor commissioner Tamika Ledbetter and department of environmental conservation commissioner Jason Brune to serve as State of Alaska department-level appointees to the AGDC board.

Doug Smith and Dan Coffey, both of Anchorage, were also named to replace outgoing board members Hugh Short of Girdwood and Joey Merrick of Eagle River. Short and Merrick were both notified of their dismissal from the AGDC board earlier, a statement by the governor says.

“Alaskans have long focused on the benefits of reduced energy costs, bringing our rich energy resources to market and monetizing our North Slope gas. Today’s announcement continues those goals, while putting in place the personnel to make diligent review of the project,” said Dunleavy.

AGDC is governed by a seven-member board of directors, five public members and two principal department heads of the State of Alaska. New members of the board will join AGDC board members Dave Cruz of Palmer, David Wight of Anchorage, and Warren Christian of North Pole.

AGDC has taken leadership of the project at the end of 2016. Partners in Alaska LNG are ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhillips.

The partners are looking to commercialize Alaska’s North Slope natural gas resources through proposed facilities including a liquefaction facility in the Nikiski area on the Kenai Peninsula.

Other facilities include an 800-mile large diameter pipeline, up to eight compression stations, at least five take-off points for in-state gas delivery, a gas treatment plant located on the North Slope and transmission lines to transport gas from Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson to the gas treatment plant.

The project is designed to export up to 20 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year and the construction works are expected to start this year.