The Alaska Pipeline Project being developed by TransCanada Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. will judge interest in shipping natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope to a terminal in southern Alaska or Canada.

The companies said Monday they will conduct a nonbinding solicitation from Aug. 31 to Sept. 14 to identify shippers who might want capacity on the pipeline.

The pipeline system would end at a gas liquefaction terminal in Alaska or to a connection near the border of British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, where the liquefied gas could be exported.

Last week, TransCanada received a final permit for the southernmost portion of another pipeline system that would carry Canadian tar-sands oil to refineries along Texas’ Gulf Coast. President Barack Obama blocked the larger Keystone XL pipeline plan earlier this year, saying it needed more study and should be rerouted around an environmentally sensitive area in Nebraska.

In afternoon trading, TransCanada shares were up 87 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to $45.51 while Exxon Mobil shares were down 28 cents to $87.17.