Summary
The new Alaskan Governor Sean Parnell has to focus on the oil & gas dependent economy. The $30 billion TransCanada pipeline is far in the future and more gas production at the Cook Inlet is required together with new distribution plans to cover all the remote towns and settlements in Alaska. Of course, oil exploration in the Alaskan OCS could recover up to 27 billion barrels of oil and cement a solid Alaskan economy.
Analysis
We have ConocoPhillips in Kenai with an LNG plant exporting LNG since the sixties to Japan. How about learning from Japan, China Australia and Chile -not to mention US expertise as practiced by T. Boone Pickens, Chart Industries and Black & Vietch - to distribute to remote areas LNG via barges, LNG tanker trucks and LNG helicopters and vaporize the LNG to NG at the various locations? Alaska is ideally suited to call on the US LNG companies (Mini, Midsize and Transportation) companies to solve the logistical NG infrastructure problem with LNG. Of course, industrial gas companies such as Air Products and Praxair could also be of assistance.
Taking an overall view at Alaska vast NG resources and the glut of NG in the US with new shale gas sources, one has to conclude the $30 billion TransCanada pipeline is ill conceived at this time and the focus should be on LNG liquefaction plants in Prudhoe Bay and in the Sea of Alaska for distribution to Alakan NG demand and for export, and eventually - when required - to feed into the West Coast NG pipeline system via well planned and environmentally responsible LNG regasification terminals. Floating Storage and Regasification vessels are proven by now and should not be ruled out for this approach.
In summary, Alaska can solve their NG logistics right now with LNG delivery and should focus on large LNG liquefaction plants for domestic and export demands instead of wasting their resources and efforts on the ill-conceived TransCanada pipeline. The same applies to the competitive ConocoPhillips - BP NG pipeline project to the Midwest.
