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Alaska gas authority names Heinze CEO Temporary offices will be at Joint Pipeline Office in Anchorage; next meeting July 28, web site to be set up Kristen Nelson Petroleum News Editor-in-Chief
The Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority voted unanimously July 14 to approve Harold Heinze as the authority’s chief executive officer. Heinze, a former president of ARCO Alaska and commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, had a short-term contract through the governor’s office to do background and startup work for the board of directors of the authority and subsequently applied for the CEO slot.
The authority, established by ballot initiative 3 in November’s general election, is charged with designing, constructing, operating and maintaining a natural gas pipeline system from the North Slope to Prince William Sound. It received $150,000 in funding from the Legislature.
Steve Porter, Department of Revenue deputy commissioner, said Heinze will be a Revenue employee under a contract that ends about March 15 and totals some $67,000.
Heinze said he and Porter have looked at temporary office space at the Joint Pipeline Office in the Sunshine Mall in Anchorage. The office setup there is more than adequate for a couple of people, Heinze said. The pipeline office also has a large board room, and “that is where all the information is. The office would be located within 50 feet of the state’s storehouse of information on pipelines and the gas issue.” Next meeting July 28 Heinze suggested that the board hold its next meeting in two weeks, and it was set for July 28. He said he would have a short list of candidates for the second position, a research assistant/administrator, and a progress report on each of the authority’s longer-term project elements. And, he said, the authority web site will be set up.
The Division of Oil and Gas will be asked to present “a rundown on Alaska’s gas reserves … where the gas is in Alaska, what fields and what leaseholders…” and the Department of Revenue will talk about the basis of the different kind of models the authority will be looking at to evaluate a project.
Heinze also said he would go over “a preliminary list of alternatives” the authority should be looking at, and discuss how things should be crossed off the list in the future.
Porter said the Department of Revenue would provide an update on information available to the public on negotiations under the state’s stranded gas act. Dealing with the market Board members also discussed getting information from the market.
David Cuddy said Sempra Energy has offered to share more information on its proposed Baja California LNG project if the authority signs a confidentiality agreement. John Kelsey said that with the authority’s short timeframe and the narrow window of opportunity for getting Alaska LNG into the market, the authority should get all of the information it can, “even if we have to sign a confidentiality form in order to get that.”
Heinze said he would be happy to address issues related to interacting with the market at the July 28 meeting. He said part of any conversation with California markets “has to be what they can do to help us. There’s a quid pro quo as part of that conversation.” He said he wasn’t sure that the authority knows what to ask for right now, “but I know we should ask for some help.”
Heinze said the California situation is complicated because of the regulatory agencies there, and he said it will be hard to talk to commercial enterprises without understanding the regulatory framework and what the state of Alaska’s standing is with California’s agencies. He said he thinks it is necessary to talk with private enterprise and the agencies simultaneously.
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