By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, Feb. 27�The National Governors Association, meeting in Washington, DC, Tuesday approved a resolution supporting construction of a gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay field along the route of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the Alaska Highway.
The proposed pipeline would connect with other lines in Alberta to deliver gas to the Lower 48 states. It would be the largest private construction project ever undertaken in North America.
In December, the Western Governors Association passed a similar resolution. Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles sponsored both documents.
Knowles said, "This is the fist national forum that is bipartisan and represents all 50 states, that is solidly behind not just the transportation of Alaska natural gas but selecting the route that's in the national interest. This is an important step forward and will answer questions about the broad base of support that we have, particularly in that it designated the Alaska Highway as the preferred route."
The governors also urged the federal government to endorse policies that increase the availability of North American natural gas at reasonable prices to residential, commercial, industrial, and electric generation consumers. It urged federal and state governments to permit access to their public-owned lands for natural gas exploration, production, or transmission, while protecting environmentally sensitive areas.
The Knowles resolution noted that Alaska's North Slope has the nation's largest single untapped supply of gas with proven reserves of 35 tcf and estimated reserves of more than 100 tcf.
It noted that the US and Canada agreed in the 1970s to use the Alaska Highway route to move North Slope gas to the existing North American distribution system. Key rights of way and regulatory approvals for the project are still valid.
Knowles said, "Alaskans understand that if we are to meet the American market demand, where the need is the greatest and it is economically in our advantage, then the Alaska Highway is the right route. Construction of the Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline also opens other opportunities for the use of our gas, whether gas-to-liquids or liquefied natural gas. This pipeline does not oppose other alternatives, but in fact helps them."
Knowles said the first meeting of his Gas Advisory Council, created to ensure the state maximizes the benefits of a pipeline, will be Mar. 1 in Anchorage (OGJ Online, Feb. 5, 2000).