Gov says little interest in bullet gas line

Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski told a gathering in Kenai, Alaska, that keeping large consumers of natural gas in the Cook Inlet basin improves the chances of building a pipeline to deliver North Slope gas to the region.

But when the governor was asked why a pipeline from the North Slope to Cook Inlet was not “already halfway finished,” he said there is nobody interested in building it.

“The state is not in the business of competing with the private sector,” Murkowski said July 21 at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center.

Southcentral Alaska faces gas shortages as early as 2009.

Murkowski was in Kenai to talk about Agrium’s North Kenai fertilizer plant and sign three bills. Agrium announced July 14 it postponed the plant’s closure for one year because it negotiated a one-year supply of natural gas. The plant needs more gas to stay open.

ANGDA would build as fallback

The time frame for building a spur line depends on how soon a main pipeline can be built. Harold Heinz, chief executive officer for the ANGDA, said a bullet line could be built in five to seven years.

Murkowski spokesperson Becky Hultberg said Murkowski believes a spur line is a good option because there already would be an infrastructure in place if a main line to the Midwest is built. A bullet line would cost more because there are higher capital costs, she said.

A spur or bullet pipeline would bring up to 1 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to the region. Right now, a little less than half that amount is consumed in the region on a daily basis.

“We’re going to do everything we can to maintain an adequate supply (of gas) out of Cook Inlet,” Murkowski said. “There’s still plenty of gas to be found.”

—The Associated Press