The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today authorized the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation to construct and operate the Alaska LNG Project. It was a long-awaited approval for a project that seems unlikely to be built without a major private-sector partner who can pay for it and get financing.
“Today’s federal authorization is a key step in determining if Alaska LNG is competitive and economically beneficial for Alaska. I commend the AGDC team for their diligence. The ongoing project economic review and discussions with potential partners will determine the next steps for this project,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
AGDC President Frank Richards said, “FERC’s authorization validates that the Alaska LNG Project can be safely built and operated, delivering numerous potential benefits with manageable environmental impacts. This approval, a major milestone in the development of the project, signifies the completion of a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation that has engaged environmental and energy experts at dozens of federal and state regulatory agencies.
Alaska’s Congressional Delegation also acknowledged the years of work by AGDC and by the FERC agency to develop Alaska’s vast supply of natural gas.
The gasline was to be the signature achievement of former Gov. Bill Walker, who chased off the private sector partners and developed a partnership with Communist China to develop the $47-60 billion project for Alaska. In order for it to be economically feasible, it will need another major partner, as many Alaskans do not believe the Chinese should have control of the gasline.
The Center for Biological Diversity offered its opposing statement: “Moving forward with this risky Alaska LNG project at a time like this is totally unacceptable,” said Miyoko Sakashita, ocean program director. “The Trump administration should focus on public health and shoring up our economy, not rushing approval of a dirty fossil fuel project that will harm polar bears and our climate. This project is bad for Alaska, bad for America, and bad for our planet.”
The board of directors of AGDC is meeting today in Anchorage to discuss next steps for the Alaska LNG Project, which consists of a gas treatment Plant on Alaska’s North Slope, an 800-mile pipeline, and an LNG facility in Nikiski, Alaska.
Today’s FERC announcement culminates six years of public input, engineering, science-based environmental research, and cultural resource studies incorporating more than 150,000 pages of environmental, engineering, and cultural data.
Great — how long is the approval good for. My guess is that by the time it goes, if ever, this will have to be done all over again. So, how many millions did we waste on it? State gov has no business doing this when the people in the know (Exxon, et al) say not yet.
Now there is an alternative which industry thinks is more feasible–ocean freight!!
All in, in round numbers the state spent $5 billion on the gas line effort. In current dollars the number would be higher of course. North Slope natural gas it being used today at its highest and best use. There seems to be very little chance that will change during the lifetime of any Alaskan alive today.
A completely not economical project that would never generate the income to pay for it. There exists no reason, beyond enriching a few individuals being paid to push this idiocy, to further throw money down this rabbit hole. There is no gas line project, there will be no gas line project. All the most likely private companies to build such a thing are already active on the North Slope and operate an oil pipeline already. If it was a viable project, they would have built it already. Provision to do so was anticipated when the TAPS was built but the economics never penciled out to do it. So the Juneau idiots continue to pay 26 people to accomplish not one damn thing. It is like getting authorization to build an island in Cook Inlet and makes about as much sense.
There will be no Alaska Gas Pipeline for many decades to come, if ever. Market conditions do not exist for it’s existence. Bill Walker tried to involve the Communist Chinese in a desperate attempt to do anything right during his tenure as governor. We all know how that worked out. Byron Mallott’s alleged child sex abuse case helped get rid of Bill Walker for good, and Alaska is better off for it.
The world is awash in cheap Natural Gas and Countries are still drilling. In addition to natural gas, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, the world’s methane gas hydrates could be as vast as 250,000 to 700,000 trillion cu ft. According to the UN Environmental Programme, the world’s reserves of gas hydrates could be as large as 3,000 to 30,000 trillion cubic meters.
For an Alaska Gas Line to be feasible, it would have to sell for TEN times today’s price at tidewater to barely break even. Doesn’t pencil out any way You look at it. “Planning” the gas line has been a money maker for some politically connected individuals……..
The environmental whacko response was predictable ?, someone should tell her that Polar Bears are doing just fine.
Happy Days are Here Again! A bunch of people can now get six figure jobs talking about a gas line for a few more years. The World is awash in $3/therm gas; the best projections I’ve seen on AKLNG are in the $7 – $10/therm range. Nobody will buy our gas unless there is some major geopolitical upset. The only reason our tres expensive oil was ever developed was the Soviet/Arab threat to US oil supply and price manipulation.
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