Pushing the big gas line

In his Jan. 16 State of the State address Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell pushed his just-introduced oil and tax change bill, and also pushed legislation in the house supporting the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. and its work on an in-state natural gas pipeline.

On the large export gas line project, the Alaska Pipeline Project, Parnell said the benchmarks he set out in his 2012 State of the State have been met.

He called on the APP partners to select a concept for an all-Alaska project, the liquefied natural gas project he proposed in 2011, by Feb. 15. That, he said, would include details such as pipe size, daily volume and location of facilities.

Then he called on the companies to finalize an agreement to advance to pre-front-end engineering and design by this spring, ensuring a full summer field season this year.

“With concept selection made, a pre-FEED commercial agreement executed, and a summer field season completed in 2013, the project will finally move at the speed that Alaskans demand and our future requires,” Parnell said.

—Kristen Nelson