Gov. Walker: BP, ConoccoPhilips support crucial for Alaska LNG

Alaskan governor Bill Walker said the support of the North Slope producers is critical for Alaska Gasline Development Corporation as it moves closer to assuming the leadership position in the Alaska LNG project. 

Earlier in the week, BP Alaska President Janet Weiss and ConocoPhillips Alaska President Joe Marushack, sent a joint letter to the governor showing their support for the Alaska LNG project.

The governor noted that the two companies have played a major role in developing the Alaska LNG project and the letter of assurance means the feed gas for the project will be made available for the project, and the state can move to the next step of monetizing Alaska’s natural gas reserves.

Both BP and ConocoPhillips also voiced their support or AGDC’s intended efforts to file a FERC application, seek confirmation of the project’s federal tax-exempt status, and other important project milestones.

At the end of August, BP and ConocoPhillips, together with ExxonMobil notified the state of Alaska that neither company intends to make further investment in the LNG project, which came after AGDC’s decision to assume full management of the $45 billion-plus Alaska LNG project by the end of this year.

However, AGDC and ConocoPhillips signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to for a joint venture company to facilitate marketing of liquefied natural gas from the Alaska LNG project to global markets.

The facility to be constructed on the eastern shore of Cook Inlet on the Kenai Peninsula would receive gas via an 800-mile pipeline from the North Slope. The plant is expected to be able to produce about 20 mtpa of LNG from three liquefaction trains.

If the project keeps progressing according to plans, FEED work could begin in 2018 with construction kicking off in 2019, AGDC’s timetable shows.

LNG World News Staff