Kenai LNG to stay open through October

ConocoPhillips is keeping its Alaska liquefied natural gas plant open a little longer.

The company plans to keep the Kenai Peninsula LNG facility and export terminal operational through October to produce additional cargo, but still plans to mothball the plant this year.

ConocoPhillips and partner Marathon Oil announced plans this past February to place the pioneering 42-year-old facility in warm storage because of declining volumes of local natural gas supplies and difficulty securing contracts overseas, but kept the plant active through the summer to send additional, unexpected shipments to Japan and China.

ConocoPhillips is still working out the details of the cargo and cannot yet provide any information on where the shipment is going, spokeswoman Natalie Lowman said.

—Eric Lidji