RCA keeping North Slope LNG timeline

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska won’t pause its review of a North Slope pipeline project, as requested by the sponsor of a competing project, the agency said Dec. 28.

In October, Spectrum Alaska LLC applied for an RCA certificate to build and operate an 8-inch pipeline to move gas roughly 1,100 feet from existing Prudhoe Bay facilities to a proposed LNG plant south of Flow Station No. 2. In November, Koch Alaska Pipeline Co. — a Flint Hills Resources subsidiary — said the application failed to include a required provision notifying competing projects of their obligation to file a notice of intent within 30 days of the first application. Alongside Caribou North Slope LLC, another Flint Hills subsidiary, Koch plans to build a similar project in a similar location.

Because the Alaska Department of Natural Resources will only give a right of way to one project, at most, Koch wanted the RCA to delay its review of the Spectrum project until after the State Pipeline Coordinator’s Office completed its right-of-way review.

“At this time, the date that DNR will issue its decision is unknown and potentially could take many months or even years to complete if that decision is appealed,” the RCA wrote in its Dec. 28 ruling. “We therefore find that (Koch Alaska Pipeline Co.’s) stated reasons to delay our process for commencing and obtaining a certificate for such an unknown and potentially lengthy period of time are insufficient to warrant the relief requested.”

Instead, the RCA put the Spectrum project back out for public notice, with the provision.

—Eric Lidji