BP executive sees daunting political challenges to Alaskan gas line

Building a gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to southern markets will require a huge effort because of the large number of stakeholders involved, said Jim Farnsworth, vice-president of North America Exploration for BP PLC. But he said a line could be completed by late 2008.

Nov. 6, 2001

2 min read

By an OGJ Online Correspondent

CALGARY, Nov. 5 -- Building a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to southern markets will require a huge effort because of the large number of stakeholders involved, says a senior BP PLC executive.

Jim Farnsworth, vice-president of North America Exploration, said it is technically feasible to complete a large diameter line by fourth quarter 2008 -- if it can be proven economically feasible.

But, he said, it will require "an awful lot of effort" on the part of producers to work with a very large group of stakeholders. He said some of those include the governments and people of Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories, indigenous people, nongovernmental organizations, and the federal governments of the US and Canada, as well as producers who hold reserves estimated at 35 tcf.

Farnsworth said the producer group is working to find ways to make the project economic, but the market will determine when and how it can be developed.

He said a pipeline could move 4-5 bcfd and could be easily expanded with additional compression to 6 bcfd if necessitated by exploration success or increased recovery.

He said a task force of the producer group, which includes BP, ExxonMobil Corp., and Phillips Petroleum Co., is examining the feasibility of two routes.

A 2,139-mile southern route would parallel the Alaskan oil pipeline to Fairbanks and then the Alaska Highway through the Yukon to pipeline connections in northern Alberta. A 1,803 mile northern route would run offshore from the North Slope to the Mackenzie Delta and south to Alberta. With that route, Farnsworth said there would be an obvious synergy with a 1,140 mile line from the Mackenzie Delta south, under consideration by a Canadian producer group.

Farnsworth said the design basis for the Alaska pipeline would be a 48 to 52-in. buried line with a pressure of 2,500-3,000 psi and throughput capacity of 4 to 6 bcfd.

The executive, who recently took over responsibility for North American exploration, said BP spends half its exploration dollars in North America and also has Canadian interests in a number of areas, including the East Coast and Mackenzie Delta. The deepwater Gulf of Mexico is also a major core area for BP.

Farnsworth said he was "astounded" to learn how much natural gas there is in Canada, in the frontiers, and elsewhere. He said BP would be looking at other undeveloped basins in Canada.