Alaskan Parties React to Early Petition of State of Alaska for Waivers to Ensure its Flexibility to Ship Royalty Gas over Capacity Released on Potential New Major Gas Transportation Projects

摘要

ExxonMobil Gas & Power Marketing (a division of Exxon Mobil Corp.) told FERC in filed comments, dated 12/11/09, that it conditionally supports the petition last month of the State of Alaska (RP10-145) for a long-term waiver of the Commission's capacity release regulations to facilitate the State's ability to ship royalty gas on a future Alaska Natural Gas Transportation pipeline - the Alaska Gas Pipeline Project. According to the State's petition, the Commission's capacity release regulations interfere with the free transfer of capacity between the producer-shipper and the State, and could lead to the producer-shipper facing a risk of holding stranded capacity. That risk may dissuade potential bidders from bidding on capacity in the open season, according to the State. ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. and ConocoPhillips Co., though, lodged a joint protest. ConocoPhillips is a co-developer of the proposed Denali - the Alaska Gas Pipeline. In 2008, BP Plc and ConocoPhillips, two major Alaska North Slope energy producers, launched the Denali project, which will consist of a gas treatment plant on the North Slope, a pipeline approximately 2,000 miles long to Alberta, Canada, and if required, a 1,500-mile pipeline from Alberta to Chicago. Denali itself filed a response to Alaska's waiver petition as well, expressing misgivings about the timing.