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Alaska wants access to natural gas pipeline Governor, commissioners will tell FERC hearing in Anchorage that state wants pipeline to allow for future exploration Rose Ragsdale Petroleum News Contributing Writer
Alaska industry and state officials lined up to testify Dec. 3 before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Anchorage on its plans for an open season on the North Slope-Lower 48 natural gas pipeline. But most of them kept their reaction to FERC’s plans close to the vest.
The federal regulatory body issued draft proposed rules for establishing the use of the pipeline on Nov. 15 and scheduled a technical conference to gather public comments in Anchorage Dec. 3.
Under a mandate from Congress to get the gas pipeline quickly permitted and built, FERC has until Feb. 10 to finalize federal regulations for the conduit’s open season. Congress also designated FERC as the lead agency for the National Environmental Policy Act process.
FERC Chairman Patrick Henry Wood III and the three other commissioners planned to attend the technical conference in Alaska.
At costs expected to reach as high as $20 billion, the Alaska gas pipeline will be the largest construction project ever undertaken in North America. It will extend some 3,500 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope, partway along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline corridor before turning east to traverse western Canada and to a terminus in the Midwest near Chicago.
Open seasons are held whenever a pipeline is built to allow gas producers and shippers to identify each other and demonstrate their interest in the conduit to the government as well as come to terms with regulators on costs, tariffs and other considerations. Governor, commissioners will testify “The draft regulations are a good start but there’s a lot more that needs to be addressed,” Mike Menge, special assistant to the governor for oil and gas and liaison to Gov. Frank H. Murkowski’s gas cabinet, said Nov. 30.
Menge said Murkowski planned to present a broad overview of Alaska’s position to FERC before turning over the witness stand to Tom Irwin and Bill Corbus, his commissioners of Natural Resources and Revenue, respectively, to make specific recommendations.
“The governor wants FERC’s regulations to provide opportunities for explorers of natural gas and future expansion of the pipeline,” Menge said. “He also wants to see that Alaskans have access to the gas, that the rules allow off-take points along the pipeline and to reiterate the importance of the pipeline.”
Murkowski, formerly a U.S. senator from Alaska, wants to be assured that FERC will follow the prerequisites of the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline Act that Congress enacted in October, legislation that he was instrumental in writing when he was still chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, Menge said. Governor wants access The governor also wants the commissioners to provide for additional gas exploration in the future and long-term use of the pipeline. “We’re looking toward putting a lot more gas down the pipeline over the years, not just the 35 or 39 trillion cubic feet on the books now,” Menge added.
Alaska’s major gas producers — BP, ConocoPhillips Inc. and ExxonMobil Corp. — also planned to weigh in with their ideas Dec. 3. Together, the three companies control all of the known gas reserves on the North Slope.
BP has always been supportive of open access for the pipeline and will be participating in the public access process, said Dave MacDowell, a spokesman for the company’s gas group.
“But what BP thinks of FERC’s proposed regulations will be the subject of the discussion on Friday,” MacDowell said Nov. 29.
ConocoPhillips was still reviewing FERC’s proposals at press time, but definitely planned to offer testimony to the commission, said Natalie Knox, a spokeswoman in Anchorage. “We are working on our comments now, and they will be available in written form at the technical conference,” she said.
Joe Marushack, head of ConocoPhillips Alaska’s gas group, and possibly a vice president from the company’s shippers group would testify on behalf of the company, Knox added.
Richard F. Guerrant, vice president, Americas of ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing Co., also planned to present his company’s thoughts on FERC’s plans.
Others expected to testify include independents such as Anadarko Petroleum that have hunted for natural gas deposits in the Foothills area just south of the North Slope, pipeline companies hoping to build the pipeline and other stakeholders, including local governments and Alaska Native corporations.
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