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Persily to ‘deal in reality’ on gas line Obama nominee for position of federal coordinator awaits Senate confirmation as competing projects gear up for open seasons Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
Larry Persily, the Obama administration’s pick to become the new federal coordinator for Alaska natural gas transportation projects, said during a Feb. 2 confirmation hearing he’d do whatever he could to enhance chances for a gas pipeline.
“I pledge to devote my energy, my knowledge and ingenuity to the prospect of a very large and very long steel pipe to bring North Slope natural gas to America’s consumers,” Persily told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Persily, of Juneau, currently works as a legislative aide to state Rep. Mike Hawker, an Anchorage Republican. He’s held such government jobs as deputy state revenue commissioner, and his extensive journalism background includes working as a writer for Petroleum News.
Only four of the Energy Committee’s 23 members attended the confirmation hearing, including the chairman, Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, and the top-ranking Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Others present were Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho.
Murkowski told the panel she felt Persily “will bring some refreshing candor” to the long-running quest for a gas line.
Persily flashed a bit of that candor during his committee testimony.
“I just deal in reality,” he said, as reported on the Alaska Public Radio Network. “We have to look at the reality of the numbers, the risk, the problems involved in this. Just because we want it isn’t gonna make it happen.”
Among points Persily made at the hearing: Alaska gas will carry higher transportation costs compared to the blossoming shale gas projects in the Lower 48, but North Slope gas will be cheaper to produce.
Next steps President Obama nominated Persily to replace Drue Pearce, who was the first federal coordinator after Congress created the office with the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act of 2004. Pearce resigned at the president’s request effective Jan. 3.
Her deputy, Thomas Barrett, is now serving as acting federal coordinator. Barrett is a retired vice admiral who formerly headed the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska. He also ran the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
The coordinator’s job is to expedite permitting for construction of a pipeline, working with some 20 federal agencies, the Canadian government, the State of Alaska, tribal governments and other stakeholders.
This promises to be a big year for gas line hopefuls, as two competing pipeline projects plan to hold open seasons this year to recruit customers. One is a partnership of ExxonMobil and TransCanada, and the other teams BP and ConocoPhillips.
On Jan. 29, TransCanada announced it had filed documents with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimating a 1,700-mile pipeline from the North Slope to Alberta would cost $32 billion to $41 billion.
Persily also enjoys the support of Alaska’s Democratic senator, Mark Begich.
The Energy Committee is scheduled to meet again Feb. 10 to further consider presidential nominees, including Persily.
If he passes the committee, Persily would then need full Senate confirmation. Because the nomination isn’t considered politically controversial, Persily conceivably could start the job by late February or early March.
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