Flare Up Over Alaskan Gas Projects

摘要

Tension over the slow progress of gas development in Alaska flared up late last month as a local government body filed an antitrust suit against Exxon Mobil and BP for alleged collusion to thwart production of the state's vast gas reserves.Although obscured somewhat by the impassioned finger-pointing,the larger issue in this row is where Alaska's gas will go and how fast it will get there.The Alaska Gasline Port Authority(AGPA)is claiming that "through a series of illegal agreements,mergers and acquisitions," BP and Exxon have been able to "prevent the marketing of any natural gas" from the Prudhoe Bay field on Alaska's North Slope.The result has been to "artificially inflate the price of natural gas both in Alaska and in the lower 48 states," the authority said in a statement.