The Alaska LNG project team has selected Nikiski as the lead site for the proposed liquefaction plant and terminal.
On October 7, 2013, ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips, and TransCanada, announced the selection of Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula as a lead liquefaction plant and terminal site for the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project. Prior to the selection, the companies considered more than 20 sites, evaluating factors related to environment, socioeconomics, cost, and technical issues, among others. Several secondary locations are under assessment.
Among the advantages of the Nikiski site, the project team cited the possibility of a pipeline route that would allow important population centers, including Fairbanks, Mat-Su Valley, Anchorage, and the Kenai Peninsula to access North Slope natural gas. Pipeline routing definition is underway, based on summer field activities south of Livengood.
The proposed project includes a natural gas liquefaction facility, a terminal, and a gas pipeline (800-mile, 42-inch diameter) from the North Slope to south-central Alaska with up to eight compression stations and at least five gas delivery points. The proposal has an estimated cost range of $45 billion to more than $65 billion and is under continual progress, with respect to engineering, technical, regulatory, fiscal, and permitting issues.
In January 2012, Alaskan Governor Sean Parnell set a series of benchmarks, requiring ExxonMobil, BP, and ConocoPhillips to settle Point Thomson lease disputes, submit a joint project proposal, and provide a timeline for the proposal by September 2012. On October 1, 2012, the project team submitted a progress report to Governor Parnell and stressed the requirement for a stable fiscal framework for effective commercialization. In a February progress report detailing completion of a concept selection phase, the team reiterated its supplication for a stable fiscal framework. In April, the Alaska Legislature approved an oil-tax reform bill (introduced by Governor Parnell in January) to encourage new production and investment.
The proposed project would bring economic benefits in the form of state revenues, increased job opportunities, and access to domestically-produced natural gas for several decades.
October 8, 2013 via Energy Solutions Forum
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