Polar LNG giving up certificate

As an administrative period to a long sentence, Polar LNG LLC is asking state regulators for permission to relinquish its certificate to operate a proposed North Slope pipeline.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska issued Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity No. 744 to Polar LNG in 2012, when the Fairbanks Natural Gas LLC affiliate was seeking to build a short North Slope natural gas pipeline to support a liquefied natural gas trucking operation into the Interior. The company abandoned the project as the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority advanced a similar effort.

The AIDEA effort was a public-private partnership with the engineering firm MWH Americas Inc. The deal fell apart in late 2014 and early 2015. Subsequently, AIDEA announced plans to acquire Pentex Alaska Natural Gas Co. LLC, which owns Polar LNG. The hope is to use the utility as the vehicle for bringing natural gas into the Interior.

Polar LNG has asked regulators to approve the relinquishment by July 31, in order to ease the review of the larger sale, which includes considerable assets in Fairbanks.

- Eric Lidji