Lawmakers give Palin high marks for gas presentations
Published Sunday, June 1, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU — Lots of information, credible speakers, not too much spin.
That’s how local lawmakers described the three days of hearings hosted by Gov. Sarah Palin’s gas line team this week in Anchorage on TransCanada’s pipeline proposal.
“Overall, I’m going to give the governor high marks,” said Rep. John Coghill, a Republican from North Pole. “The credibility of TransCanada as a business was demonstrated very well some of your nationally renowned financial firms and consultants.”
Coghill said the presentations by Palin’s team sounded at times like a sales pitch, but he added that information presented by the hired consultants seemed credible and unbiased. The extent of the information showed just how deeply the governor has studied the issue, he said.
Coghill and others said they still wanted to learn more about aspects of TransCanada’s proposal, but thought the governor’s team gave a good overview.
“The presentation has been comprehensive — at a surface level,” said Rep. David Guttenberg, a Fairbanks Democrat.
“There’s so much material,” he added. “I think our binders have a thousand pages in them.”
Most lawmakers from the Fairbanks area attended the presentations.
Rep. Mike Kelly, a Fairbanks Republican, said the presentations hadn’t changed his mind about TransCanada’s plan, but had sharpened his understanding of it.
“The TransCanada proposal adds a lot to the equation. To turn it down and be left standing with only the Denali proposal — you better learn to whistle in the dark,” he said, referring to the competing pipeline plan pursued by North Slope producers BP and ConocoPhillips.
Sen. Gene Therriault, a Republican from North Pole, said one thing that stood out for him was information suggesting there is more oil and other hydrocarbon liquids in the Point Thomson field than previously thought.
The Legislature is scheduled to convene in Juneau on June 3 to consider the TransCanada proposal.
Exxon makes
tentative promise
Oil giant and North Slope producer Exxon Mobil has made a tentative promise to commit its gas reserves to a pipeline project.
The promise comes in the form of a written response sent earlier this month to Democratic lawmakers who had asked for such a commitment three months earlier.
“(A)ssuming a gas pipeline is constructed to serve North American markets, ExxonMobil would be willing to sell North Slope gas at the wellhead or to ship gas through the pipeline on commercially reasonable terms and conditions,” wrote Exxon’s Alaska production manager, Craig Haymes.
Rep. Les Gara, an Anchorage Democrat and one of the lawmakers who sent the request, suggested this week that the statement could signal a “rift” between Exxon and the other two major North Slope producers, BP and ConocoPhillips, who are pursuing their own pipeline project, and that Exxon’s commitment could help spur a gas pipeline.
When asked whether the commercial terms described in TransCanada’s proposal would meet the company’s criteria, Exxon spokeswoman Margaret Ross wrote in an e-mail that Exxon would “carefully evaluate” any offer presented by a pipeline builder.
“‘Commercially reasonable terms and conditions’ means there is a reasonable expectation the operations will be profitable to the lessee over the term of the sale, based on the outlook for gas pipeline transportation rates, market-based natural gas sales terms and conditions, royalty obligations, tax payments, and other forms of government take,” she wrote.
Coghill picks up
challenger
Corey D. Allen has filed to run against Coghill for the Alaska House in District 11, which includes North Pole and Badger Road.
Allen could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
His filing has not yet been certified by the state.
The filing deadline to run for state office is tomorrow.
For more news from the capital, visit www.newsminer.com and look for the Capital Focus blog.
Community Discussion
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So a doctor tells his patient that he has good news and bad news. "Tell me the good news, doc." "Well", says the doctor, "The good news is we'll have a cure for your disease in 2020." "Well, that's great," says the patient. "What's the bad news?" "The bad news," says the doctor, "Is that you'll be long dead before then."
Such is the state of affairs for Fairbanks. 2020 is when, maybe, we'll get gas according to the Palin team. But how many Fairbanks residents will be able to endure the insane energy prices here until 2020?
So our legislators and the Palin administration should stop offering the intellectually dishonest proposition that we either have to go with TransCanada, and all their problems, or wait for a much worse deal from the multinational corporations.
Is there a better way? Should Alaska use its massive surpluses to hire the private sector to build the gasline from the North Slope to Valdez? Isn't that the first obligation of a state- to ensure that basic infrastructure is built so that citizens have a decent quality of life? Alaska has already built quality hydroelectric projects that produce affordable electricity. Why not fund ANGDA so that they can do the job voters approved in 2002?
Why is this being made harder than it needs to be?
Billions and Billions of dollars ...er reasons.
Seems we will see the same problem with royalty gas as with oil Alaskans will be left holding the bag and paying the price. Something has to be done and done now to fix the high cost of energy in Alaska.
If you are not finding a solution then you are part of the problem.
Great analogy 5050!
I wish that my elected representative would have taken the time to attend these presentations. Unfortunately for all of us Rep. Jay Ramras does not have an open mind and was the only interior representative who did not attend. Just one more reason I will not be voting for him this fall.
So for the heck of it let's say Trans Canada gets the exclusive license to build a gasline from the Legislature. Then in 4 years when Trans Canada begins to see that BP and Conoco aren't going to commit any gas to them Exxon calls the CEO of Trans Canada and asks him to lunch in Houston. They have a nice meal in the Conference room, catered, with lots of seafood at Exxons corporate office. I bet they might even have some Oysters Rockefeller. Umm Yummy.
After desert, maybe Banana Foster's, the CEO and President of Exxon will offer to buy Trans Canada in a little stock swap. Of course the CEO of Trans Canada will get a 20 million dollar severance check along with $5 million each for every other Trans Canada Board member.
Then Exxon will have dinner with BP and Conoco and they"ll decide how to divvy up the $500 million Trans Canada will be owed by the State. And oh yeah, then they'll have to spend a few years evaluating the trans Canada project to see how it might work with their business model. Meanwhile Conoco and BP will put their Denali project on ice until decisons have been made, big huge decisions that need lots of study and time to make. And meetings, Gotta have meetings at real high levels. maybe even invite some Alaska lawmakers that are running for re-election.
Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......................
Concurrently with issuing Trans Canada the AGIA license the legislature and Governor or the Governor on her own pre-files a $2 billion dollar reserves tax effective 1/1/09, the proceeds of which will be divided up amongst the 600,000 Alaskans that get a permanent fund check, ($ 3,000 each), that will only be taken off the books when gas begins flowing from ANY pipeline, TC's or Denali. The State can use the remaining $ 200 million as it sees fit. If the Producers want to warehouse my gas I want to get paid rent.
That's right, this owner wants a rent check.
@ and with---> smallbob We could have had a gasline years ago had we taxed the stranded gas the way we are supposed to. Lets not reelect anybody who is not fixing the problem. Lets get some outside the box thinking to find solutions. John Brown is the candidate for district 7 Bye Jay
I wish to express my support Corey Allen in his run for District 11 Alaska House for North Pole.
For all the folks who doubt that BP would be willing to use the TransCanada line, let me point you to an article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/31/busine...) the NY Times published a few days ago. If BP keeps having a falling out with the Russian government and the Russians continue along the line toward nationalizing their gas and oil production, BP stands to lose over a quarter of its current worldwide production.
That's really going to bend them over a barrel, and may create a more favorable atmosphere for building the TransCanada line first.
5050 stop making it sound like your solution will help all Alaskans. Are you a board member of the Gasline Port Authority and have you used the Newsminer to spread propaganda for this group free of charge. If you are you are no different than the big oil lobbyist, only they have to disclose who they are.
The best option is state development and ownership. Forget exporting to Canada and the states. Small plastic lines for our own use. That's a long term solution that we do have the money to build, scale to fit. And it could happen faster then any other option to alleviate fuel costs.
Some quick notes about legislative races:
John Brown is challenging Jay Ramras in House District 10
Corey Allen is challenging John Coghill in House District 11
Joe Paskvan is running for Senate Seat E, currently held by Gary Wilken
Mike Kelly will likely have a Dem Challenger in House District 7, we just can't disclose who until we have a firm commitment.
If you're tired of the party that loves Randy Ruedrich and Veco more than working Alaskans, please support these Democrats.
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