FNG has gas contracted through May ’13

Fairbanks Natural Gas LLC told the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in October that the company has contracted for a three-year supply of natural gas from a Cook Inlet supplier.

The contract will provide for the full requirements of the Point MacKenzie liquefied natural gas plant, up to 5 million cubic feet per day. The company liquefies natural gas at a Point MacKenzie facility and then trucks the LNG to Fairbanks for distribution to some 1,100 customers. FNG said the contracted amount is an increase in 600,000 cubic feet per day over its current gas supply contract. The new contract begins June 1, 2010, and runs through May 31, 2013, FNG said.

FNG also told the commission that its owners have agreed to the acquisition of the utility by the Alaska Gasline Port Authority (see story in Oct. 4 issue).

“We believe that AGPA ownership will allow FNG earlier access to LNG manufactured on the North Slope,” FNG said in an Oct. 15 letter to the commission.

FNG said the sale should be completed in the next several months, “leading to LNG plant construction beginning the second quarter of 2010 with completion approximately two years later,” and said it “anticipates requesting expedited consideration from the RCA on the application to acquire a controlling interest in the public utility.”

—Kristen Nelson