Calling it “one of three legs of a three-legged stool,” Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski said at a 5:30 press conference this afternoon that the state has reached a gas line fiscal agreement with ConocoPhillips — one of the three members of the gas sponsor group.
Jim Bowles, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska said at the press conference that he was pleased by the agreement, and noted that this as been “in the making for 30 years” and “we’re now one step closer to making an Alaska natural gas pipeline.”
An agreement has not yet been reached with BP or ExxonMobil.
Although BP has not signed off on an agreement with the state, Ken Konrad, BP’s gas performance unit leader, said at the press conference that a lot of progress has been made over the last 14 weeks on “a large number of issues” but there are “still a few outstanding issues that need to be negotiated.”
He said BP has agreed to a process with Jim Clark to continue negotiations.
The governor said he anticipated ExxonMobil would be speaking for themselves. ExxonMobil could not be immediately reached for a comment.
The governor said the contract with ConocoPhillips “is a significant milestone,” although additional work remains. He also said he could not discuss details of the contract due to confidentiality requirements until the state has reached agreement with all there of the producers.
