A liquefied natural gas project in Alaska could cost more than $65 billion and would represent a mega-project of “unprecedented scale and challenges,” officials behind the project told Gov. Sean Parnell.
In a letter to Parnell released by the governor’s office late Wednesday, officials with TransCanada Corp. and the North Slope’s three major players said good progress has been made in pursuing a project but “significant environmental, regulatory, engineering and commercial work remains to reach upcoming decisions to bring North Slope gas to market.”
They estimated the cost of a pipeline could range from $45 billion to more than $65 billion.
Parnell set expectations for progress on a major gas pipeline during his State of the State address in January. He said the timeline was born of frustration with the seemingly stalled process of moving a line ahead.
The first benchmarks were resolution of disputed leases at the Point Thomson gas fields and getting the CEOs of the North Slope’s three major players — Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and ConocoPhillips — to coalesce behind plans for an LNG pipeline to get the region’s resources to market. Both of those were met in March.
His third benchmark, for which he had a Sept. 30 deadline, was for the companies to identify a project and work schedule and to have firmer numbers on a project.
