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DOE official tells Calgary conference Bush remains opposed to Alaska gas floor prices, tax credits
Gary Park, PNA Canadian correspondent
Alaska natural gas delivered by pipeline to the Lower 48 will be an “absolutely critical” element of supply in coming years, says a senior official with the U.S. Department of Energy.
But the Bush administration has no intention of supporting floor prices or tax credits to develop Alaska gas because of its belief that the market should be the driving force in developing gas resources, Jim Slutz, deputy assistant secretary of fossil fuel management, told a Canadian Energy Research Institute conference in Calgary March 4.
He said Washington does not want government action to interfere with more cost-effective supplies which could come on line.
“We are committed to allowing the market to find the solutions to bringing northern gas online in an economically viable manner,” he said.
Slutz said President George W. Bush’s national energy policy recommendation to expedite construction of an overland pipeline from the North Slope will require the U.S. to work “closely with Canada to be successful.”
An inter-agency group is already working to streamline and coordinate the regulatory phase of an Alaska pipeline once the industry files an application.
In addition to Alaska gas, he said liquefied natural gas will make a growing contribution to U.S. consumption, noting that LNG already accounts for 55 percent of demand on some days in Massachusetts, where there is an LNG terminal.
Slutz said it is not a choice between LNG or Alaska gas, because both will be needed.
“The market will determine the proportion of each of these supply sources, but governmental policies and regulation may contribute a less cumbersome and more efficient process to ensure the delivery of these supplies,” he said.
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