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MOU streamlines Point Thomson permitting Knowles says agreement with ExxonMobil establishes basis for reimbursement of state permitting costs, targets end of 2003 for permit approvals Kristen Nelson PNA Editor-in-Chief
Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles told the Alaska Support Industry Alliance annual meeting in Anchorage Sept. 23 that the state signed a memorandum of understanding with ExxonMobil for streamlined permitting at Point Thomson earlier in the day. He also said he expects an MOU with ConocoPhillips for Alpine expansion to be signed within a few days.
Dick LeFebvre was selected as state manager for the Point Thomson project, Knowles said.
The MOU establishes a new process for handling the state permitting of large-scale oil and gas developments such as that proposed at Point Thomson, the state said Sept. 24, modeled after an existing state process used to permit the Fort Knox gold mine near Fairbanks and currently in use to help develop the Pogo gold mine near Delta.
“I am very pleased to help advance development of this exciting new field through this streamlined permitting process,” Knowles said in a statement.
“Development of Point Thomson will add significant production from the North Slope, and the gas reserves could ultimately figure prominently in the development of a gas pipeline. This billion-dollar investment could be the biggest development on the North Slope since Kuparuk,” he said.
Development not a done deal “This agreement with the state should improve the efficiency of the permitting and environmental review which in turn could improve the chances of identifying a commercial project,” said ExxonMobil spokesman Mike Todd in a Sept. 24 statement. “Although a final development decision is not expected until early 2004, we are committed to moving forward with the permitting process,” Todd said.
“The purpose of the agreement is to define roles and responsibilities of the state and ExxonMobil during the permitting process for the Point Thomson gas cycling project,” Todd said.
DNR lead state agency The MOU, signed by Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Pat Pourchot for the state and Jack Williams of ExxonMobil Production Co., representing the Point Thomson unit owners, establishes the terms by which ExxonMobil will reimburse the state for costs incurred by DNR, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Fish and Game and the Division of Governmental Coordination, in reviewing the project. The Point Thomson unit, some 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope, is expected to produce 75,000 barrels of gas condensate per day at its peak.
DNR is the lead agency for coordination of state permitting activities — and for state coordination with the federal review process. LeFebvre is full-time Point Thomson permitting manager. The MOU specifies that he has 30 days to develop, in consultation with state agencies and ExxonMobil, an overall state permit processing plan which includes a target permit decision-making date of Dec. 31, 2003.
LeFebvre worked as a senior land manager for DNR from 1976 until his retirement last year. He held the position of deputy director of lands and most recently served nine years as the large-mine coordinator leading the state permitting of several major mines including Fort Knox, True North and Greens Creek.
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