Alaska LNG Project hosts tour to attract investors
ANCHORAGE—The state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. took over the Alaska LNG Project from a partnership, which included the state, ExxonMobil, BP and ConocoPhillips, at the end of December, and now is making big moves in its goal to build a facility to export liquefied natural gas to Asia.
The corporation has been actively seeking investors and customers, Rosetta Alcantra, vice president of communications, told American Gas.
In March, it hosted 21 potential investors from 14 countries for a tour of Prudhoe Bay, the center of the North Shore gas industry, and the Kenai Peninsula, where the LNG facility will be built. The event included talks by government officials and technical reviews and presentations from the oil and gas industry, engineers, contractors and Alaska Native Regional Corporations.
“We want to demonstrate we have the expertise,” Alcantra said. “We have people and companies in Alaska who have been operating here for over 40 years. We have amazing infrastructure capability.”
The decision for Alaska to take over the project came down to economics, Alcantra said. The other companies, however, still maintain support for the project and are actively involved. An example of this active support includes a cooperative agreement between AGDC and BP. The state organization has signed an agreement with the company to collaborate in navigating the financial and regulatory requirements of the project.
Alcantra said the state plans to file an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the first half of 2017. State officials are reviewing the reports they inherited from the previous partnership when they took over the lead and are addressing the comments received to date.
The FERC process should take approximately 24 months to come to a decision, Alcantra said. If all goes according to plan, construction could start in 2018 and the first cargo shipped sometime between 2023 and 2025. The targeted timeframe will ideally meet the market demand for LNG.
The original estimated cost of $45 billion to $65 billion has now been brought to under $45 billion, she said. The project could create 12,000 jobs during construction and 1,000 permanent jobs. AGDC’s March tour hopefully speaks to the level of interest.
“We are optimistic,” Alcantra said. “This is a big project on a national level.”