Gas pipeline garners support from Department of Energy
FEDS: New office will push for construction of route from North Slope.
By TIMOTHY INKLEBARGER
The Associated Press
Published: May 12th, 2005
Last Modified: May 12th, 2005 at 05:12 AM
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JUNEAU -- The U.S. Department of Energy has established the Office of Alaska Natural Gas Projects to help advance a natural gas pipeline project from the North Slope.
The three major North Slope oil producers -- Cococo Phillips, Exxon Mobil and BP -- and the oil company TransCanada are negotiating a deal to build the $20 billion, 3,500-mile project from the North Slope, through Canada and down to the Midwest.
The Alaska Natural Gasline Port Authority is negotiating to build the pipeline from the North Slope to Valdez, where the gas would be liquefied and shipped to markets on the West Coast.
At a legislative briefing Wednesday, Mark Maddox of the U.S. Department of Energy said beginning construction on the pipeline is one of the Bush administration's top priorities. He said Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman this month established the natural gas projects office within the U.S. Office of Fossil Energy.
The assistant secretary of fossil energy will act as a temporary federal coordinator for pipeline activities until April 13, 2006, or until the president nominates a permanent coordinator, Maddox said.
"The (Energy Information Administration) projects that natural gas could be moving southward by the middle of the next decade," Maddox said. "Our intent at the U.S. Department of Energy is to do everything possible within our jurisdiction to help it before then and to help it happen as soon as possible."
Robert Cupina with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it could take up to 38 months for FERC to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for construction of the pipeline once a proposal is made to build the project.
Prefiling would take about six months, Cupina said.
"The real question is when will the six months start," Cupina said.
Drue Pearce of the Department of the Interior said the department is developing a business plan to outline the roles and responsibilities of the various state and federal agencies involved.
The Bureau of Land Management has taken the lead in outreach to communities involved in the possible project, Pearce said.
It will hold introductory briefings in Anchorage on Friday and Fairbanks on Monday.
"In addition while in Fairbanks the (Bureau of Land Management) will meet with the Tanana Chiefs Council and Doyon to discuss how the project might affect Native resources," Pearce said. |
