Gov. Palin to be in Fairbanks on Friday for gas line ceremony
Published Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — Gov. Sarah Palin plans to be in Fairbanks on Friday as the state signs off on a natural gas pipeline license.
A ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, Palin spokesman Bill McAllister said. Department of Natural Resources commissioner Tom Irwin and Department of Revenue commissioner Patrick Galvin are expected to sign the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act license, granted to TransCanada in August after two concurrent legislative special sessions dedicated to the matter.
Sen. Gene Therriault, a North Pole Republican, said the state’s efforts and months of special legislative hearingsto propel a gas line forward have paid off.
“We’ve got two entities now that are trying to advance their projects,” he said. “That’s a development.”
Under AGIA, the licensee gains state support and $500 million toward project start-up costs. In return, the licensee agrees to enforceable timelines, expansion capabilities and Alaska off-takes.
TransCanada CEO Hal Kvisle and a contingent of Canadian media are expected at the event, McAllister said.
With the license in hand, TransCanada is eligible to start work on federal and state permits and to receive some of the $500 million the state put on the table as reimbursement for expenses incurred bringing a pipeline project forward. The license does not guarantee construction of a pipeline, but does ensure TransCanada moves forward with its plans in order to get state reimbursements to $500 million.
Therriault said TransCanada met all the state’s must-haves. Those include a special in-state tariff that could get gas to Alaskans at a reasonable rate and the possibility of extending a branch of the line to a tidewater port for liquid natural gas exports if the markets demand.
TransCanada is proposing a 1,715-mile pipeline capable of shipping 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Alaska’s North Slope to a hub in Alberta, Canada. Gas could flow through the 48-inch diameter line within 10 years.
As proposed, the $26 billion pipeline would be the largest construction project in the history of North America.
While TransCanada pursued the state’s AGIA license, North Slope producers BP and ConocoPhillips launched a similar gas line project, named Denali.
Critics of the TransCanada line say the company might have trouble getting shipping commitments from gas producers and getting credit to finance the pipeline in light of a gloomy economy and slumping oil prices that could curb development of other resources. Some have suggested the Legislature take a second look at the license agreement when it reconvenes in January.
Therriault said the matter might be brought up, but would likely go nowhere.
“The Legislature has said, ‘This is what we want to do,’” he said. “The price of gas today still would make this project very economically viable.”
Any attempt to bring the license terms up would be “unfortunate and ill-advised,” he said.
Instead, Therriault said he hopes the state turns its attention to ways it can attract gas producers to the pipeline, including offering “fiscal terms.”
Friday marks Palin’s first public appearance in Fairbanks since she and Sen. John McCain lost their White House bid Nov. 4. The governor participated in a traditional blessing of the new Morris Thompson center in August, a few weeks before starting a whirlwind tour on the national campaign trail.
She traveled to the East Coast this week and met with President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, according to a statement issued by her office. During the meeting, Palin emphasized the need for a natural gas pipeline linking the resource-rich North Slope and North American markets.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
Ha ha ha. You dumb ass Alaskans leave us Canadians marveling at your stupidity.
We got an inside person over at DNR (she used to work for TC) to make sure that our beloved Trans-Canada will get the $500 million US dollars on this deal. No, you yanks will not get a gasline. But we will get your money!
While we are building our projects in Canada, you guys up there in Alaska will be shuffling paperwork. The funniest thing was just how dumb and crooked your leaders are up there. When the head man at Trans-Canada said he might get around to the Alaska gas-line in a dozen years, YOUR DUMB ASS LEGISLATORS STILL VOTED FOR THE DEAL.
Good for us. Bad, very bad, for you. Isn\'t your oil running out?
Very nice troll, OhCanada.
Petrobank, and Global Resources Corp., have already figured out how to efficiently extract the 175billion barrels of Alberta TarSands Crude -- WITHOUT USING A SINGLE DROP OF ALASKAN GAS.
http://www.petrobank.com/hea-thaiprocess...
------
http://www.globalresourcecorp.com/
The Lower48 market for Alaskan Gas will be too flat to justify building a big steel mega-crackpot-pipe...
The whole chain of supply and labor for this big obsolete and outdated project is a waste of resources worldwide.
Dumb Architecture is built by LOSERS...
...just like Big-3 Auto Makers hijacking a mega-billion bailout to compensate for decades of arrogant stupidity.
The WPPSS of Alaska -- BOONDOGGLE
...this brand of stupidity is brought to you by the same goofballs who tanked the economy with toxic-thinking since the end of the Cold-War.
....truly pathetic PETROTHEISM ---
"Dear Lord, Please bring us another pipeline... we promise we won't piss this one away too"
.....500,000 people who need psychotherapy.
NOTORIOUS AND PROFLIGATE GAMBLERS & SPENDAHOLICS
So Palin decided to come back to Alaska. She certainly works hard for those oil and gas companies!
Hi DT!
Big mega-crack-pipe may be more like it...
Tonto12 now you are a Canadian. Get over it and stop changing your name because the Port Authority lost. The open season at the height of a depression should be interesting.
(This comment was removed by the Newsminer.com staff. Please see our User Agreement for further information.)
They have a coin with the Queen on one side and a Beaver on the other,What!
When Sarah gets here, we'd do well to try to wrestle out of her just how much more campaigning she's gonna do before she settles back into her desk and gets something done HERE.
Might be nice if someone implies that she should be docked the 2, 3, or 4 months wages with her being gone most of it.
Also, see if she will state whether she's going to run for president or v.p. in 2012, so we won't commit her to govern again in 2010 if that is the case. Two terms split by the barbs of high stakes campaigning just ain't gonna fly.
I like the woman, I think she'd make a terrific governor. But I think I want someone with real dedication to govern that commits to no other distractions. She has enough critics on her governing from right here.
Thanks to McCain and the RNC, we have the world on our butts, largely about her, but they don't stop there. They're criticizing everything WE do, that's not cool....esp. when they've no where to talk themselves.
I mean what? Californians and the rest of the 48 are experts about the environment and keeping their kids controlled enough for them to get their educations? YOU BETCHA!
I'm so confused. Alaskan oil producers offered to build the line out of pocket and give royalties to Alaska. TC will build the line, maybe, after getting 500mil from Alaska to "think about it" but they don't have a promise of getting any gas to push through the line. Who wins here? Sarah, I sure would like some answers BEFORE you sign away our State's money.
Ah Sen. Gene Therriault,
No Alaska Natural Gas pipeline before 2015 - Wasn't Sarah Palin suckered?
Didn't TransCanada chief executive officer Hal Kvisle say "Nothing goes ahead until Exxon is happy with it,"?
=====================================
Breaking News
Monday, August 04, 2008 4:28 AM
Exxon key to Alaska pipeline
DAVID EBNER
From Monday's TORONTO Globe and Mail
http://ago.mobile.globeandmail.com/gener...
or
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/P...
VANCOUVER — TransCanada Corp. has won support from Alaska to build a $26-billion natural gas pipeline, but ground won't be broken until Exxon Mobil Corp. signs on, says TransCanada chief executive officer Hal Kvisle.
Calgary-based TransCanada, which secured Alaska's official backing Friday, is in competition with BP PLC and ConocoPhillips Co. to build a pipeline that would connect large untapped gas reserves on the north slope of the state to consumers in the continental United States.
But Exxon, the company that controls the most gas in Alaska, hasn't yet backed either of the competing proposals, though it has an active Alaska team monitoring the pipeline race.
"Nothing goes ahead until Exxon is happy with it," Mr. Kvisle said in an interview yesterday.
For TransCanada to proceed, it will also need to attract the shipping business of rivals BP and Conoco, which control part of the natural gas.
"This is not about TransCanada dreaming up the project we think will work, it's about the five key parties getting together and crafting something here," Mr. Kvisle said.
That presents some big challenges. All of the companies would likely seek a longer-term deal with Alaska on such issues as taxes before deciding to make a long-term commitment to a pipeline.
Reaching such a deal could be an uphill battle because the relationship between the firms and Alaska is frayed after a previous pipeline proposal fell through two years ago. Further, while it looks like it's BP-Conoco versus TransCanada in Alaska, the relationships are much more tangled.
London-based BP is TransCanada's largest customer on its sprawling gas pipeline network, and Conoco, based in Houston, and TransCanada are partners on a major new oil sands pipeline.
continued page 2
page 2 continued:
"Things aren't always as they seem," Mr. Kvisle said.
===============================
In this foggy and seemingly fractured picture, Calgary-based TransCanada is positioning itself in the role of intermediary, hoping to own part of the pipeline while getting closely involved in its design and construction by pitching its pipeline expertise as an important card.
An ownership stake in any pipeline is something the producers want if they are to sign long-term contracts, Mr. Kvisle said.
But TransCanada also has the right, under federal Canadian legislation from the late 1970s, to build the Canadian portion of the line, the company says.
Mr. Kvisle said he thinks TransCanada can figure out a deal that will work for everyone and offer advantages such as savings amounting to several hundred million dollars with technology that eliminates the need for pressure-testing the pipeline.
Late Friday, the Alaska Senate approved a license for TransCanada to start preliminary work with $500-million from the state - but also a long list of requirements to ensure that the line benefits Alaskans. The license was issued under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, a process that Exxon, BP and Conoco rejected as unreasonable, and led BP and Conoco to independently propose a $30-billion pipeline called Denali.
TransCanada's new pipeline license does not affect Denali, said Bud Fackrell, a BP executive who is now president of the venture, in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday.
Mr. Fackrell added that an open season for contracts to ship gas on Denali will be conducted in 2010. It's the same year that TransCanada plans to do the same, as required by its license, but Mr. Kvisle said it's unlikely two open seasons will be conducted.
While Alaska inches ahead, the proposed $16-billion Mackenzie Valley pipeline - whose lead backer is Exxon - in the Northwest Territories is much further along and is nearing the end of a long regulatory review.
Mr. Kvisle doesn't think the two ventures are in competition and said construction on Mackenzie could begin in 2010 while Alaska likely won't break ground before 2015.
And in Alaska, Exxon remains the deciding factor.
"Things aren't always as they seem," Mr. Kvisle said. "Exxon is not the front-and-center party in the press but I know for a fact that they've got very hard work going."
Seems to me Venezuela is a better friend than Canada. Hugo Chavez might not be so bad afterall. His big crime is hating Bush. The Canadian socialist gov't is on the verge of collapse, maybe CITGO can buy out TransCanada and become an asset to Alaska.
Go Sarah!
if you build it, they will come.
The gas line is being built due to pressure from Alaskans. It's also due to our pressure, that we will get a better in state rate for our heating needs.
If Exxon or the rest of the "big three", choose not to use the line of our preference, they will pay heavy taxes, which will contribute to Alaska enticing other companies to come in and provide gas for the preferred line.
Sure, there'll be some grumbling and a few hits on fuel costs, but in the end, the big Three need to learn they need Alaskas approval and favor, more than we need them. They've held us over the barrel for the last time.
I mean come one, you have to know that Alaska can make it worth while, for a small drilling company to come in, set up, and with Alaska's support, be producing gas for the line we supported. In which case, we get our instate gas cheap, tax the hell out of the Big three, making the cash we need, to support the state and it's support for new drilling companies.
We just have to remain united. Keep legislators in office that resist special interests and support our governors efforts.
She probably hired Tina Fey to show for this. Why would she want to waste her time in Alaska?
CRACKING THUNDER roaring down from the mountaintops...
...just 20% of the promissory note to TC will build a condensate-pipe from Prudhoe to FBX.
This pipe will supply FBX with more than 250,000 gallons propane/ethane per day...[ 200gpm ]
First Gas To FBX in 2009 !!! ..if we Crack the Whip Now !!!
This pipe will last 100years, but will pay for itself in less than one year.
...the second little poly-pipe will cost half as much to build, and the third one even cheaper, after the 5th little poly-pipeline Alaska will be making the most polypipe in the world.
PERMANENT SUSTAINABLE TOP-JOBS IN A PROGRESSIVE DECENTRALIZED ECONOMY...
...a rising tide floats all boats.
http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk209...
....flash/rumble [ and a whole lotta static-Lectricity ]
To the News-Miner staff: Stakeholder's posting of an entire article from the Globe and Mail, while informative, is unquestionably a violation of copyright and fair-use laws. Perhaps his post could be trimmed to just the link to the article and an abstract.
The average IQ of the Fairbanks area will drop Friday.
dog
TomH, he gave due credit, and unless the author(s) complain, why would you? Are you perhaps more worried about the truth -- that a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline would be a waste of time and money? DistantThunder nailed it right on also.
I am really glad though that Sarah finally remembered to fly home and put in an appearance. Wish it was yesterday when the high was -30 -- maybe she woulda stayed permanently in Georgia, where her new best friend Sen. SleazeMan won the election, thus ensuring that the Evil Democrats Who Want to Enslave Us All won't have a filibuster-proof congress.
Sitting here looking at my crooked fingers...
Who said: "The $500million AGIA-award is a good way for the State of Alaska to get some skin in the game" ???
...dang, I really hate it when I slam my fingers in the door !!
Every time I do it I look really really really stoooopid !!!
diogenesFBKS, is it possible for our IQ to be a negative number?
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.