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Gas authority members named, to meet June 16
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski has appointed seven members to the Alaska Natural Gas Authority, created by an initiative in last November’s general election to develop, construct, manage and operate a gas pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska and a spur line to Southcentral Alaska.
The authority’s goal is to have the Alaska gas line in full production by 2007.
“The members of the Alaska Natural Gas Authority represent the important commitment by the state to bring Alaska’s natural gas to market,” Murkowski said June 9.
The first meeting is set for Monday, June 16 at the Department of Revenue’s conference room in Anchorage. A chair will be selected and Yukon Pacific Corp. will will present its new plan for an all-Alaska LNG project. Information on members The board members are:
• Warren Christian of Anchorage is executive vice president of ASRC Energy Services, and previously was president and general manager of Houston Contracting. He has more than 20 years of experience in the construction and oil field services industry.
• David Cuddy of Anchorage is a lifelong Alaskan and has earned an economics degree and an Masters of Business Administration. Cuddy has worked as a banker for 22 years, served as a chief financial officer for an Internet company and served one term in the Alaska House of Representatives.
• Bob Favretto of Kenai owns car dealerships in Kenai, Soldotna and Juneau. He is a member of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, the Cook Inlet Pipeline Terminus Group and chairman of the City of Kenai Economic Development Committee.
• Scott Heyworth led the public campaign for the passage of ballot measure 3, which called for the formation of a natural gas authority and the appointment of its members by the governor. Heyworth is an Anchorage longshoreman.
• John Kelsey is a lifelong resident of Valdez. He served in the United States Navy during World War II from and received a degree from Stanford University in 1942. Kelsey served on the Alaska Permanent Fund board of trustees from 1987 to 1994.
• Dan Sullivan of Anchorage served for nearly a decade with Marathon Oil and Phillips Petroleum in Nikiski. He is experienced with global marketing strategies for liquefied natural gas. Sullivan sits on the Anchorage Municipal Assembly.
• Andy Warwick is a Fairbanks accountant who served as the commissioner of the Department of Administration under Governor Jay Hammond. Warwick also served in the Alaska State House of Representatives from 1971 until 1974 and was a member of the Committee on Oil and Gas Taxation. Heyworth pleased with board Scott Heyworth, the initiative organizer, told Petroleum News June 9 that he was very pleased with the board.
“It looks to me to be a phenomenal quality board and I’m sure that all the directors are good Alaskans with the aim to once and for all answer the question: is an LNG project viable for Alaska and the world,” Heyworth said.
The gas authority is not another study, he said: “this is a real project to put Alaskans back to work and fuel the Alaska and U.S. economies.”
Heyworth said that while he believes there is a market for Alaska LNG in the Far East, “I really think that California is one of our biggest potential purchasers. And I’m sure we’ll be working with the California Energy Commission to see if we can establish a relationship between California and Alaska to supply them with our gas.”
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