Chicago Tribune Editorial.  The president should approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which would link the rich oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta to U.S. refineries and ports in the Gulf of Mexico. Last Friday evening, 17 Democrats joined all of the U.S. Senate’s Republicans in urging Obama to do just that. The 62-37 vote was nonbinding but signaled bipartisan frustration with the administration’s reluctance to approve the project.

Seward Phoenix Log by Wolfgang Kurtz.  There’s no plan to get critical natural gas supplies to Mike Chenault, Alaska, Speaker of the House, Representative, Kenai, AGDC, AGIA, HB4, Photo by Dave HarbourSouthcentral Alaska that has the momentum that the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. Alaska Stand-Alone Pipeline project has, according to District 34 Representative Mike Chenault (NGP Photo). Chenault, who is serving as speaker of the house, discounts other initiatives as mere proposals at best. Furthermore, with Conoco-Phillips apparently due to abandon their long standing export permit for Cook Inlet gas from their Nikiski facility, there may be onerous demands to be faced for export permits.  Chenault also pointed out at a town hall meeting on Saturday that interest from end users could merely be them leveraging the market to add the Alaska supply to a global pool. The more capacity available, the lower price buyers have to pay, according to that theory. He reasons that it’s quite easy to get stated interest in exporting Alaskan gas but much more difficult to get a contract  (Ref. HB4)

 

Fairbanks News Miner.  The supporters and opponents of a state-backed small-diameter natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska sparred over broad legislation that would allow the state to continue work on what could be a $7 billion project.  On Thursday, the House Finance Committee heard from Alaska Gasline Port Authority general counsel Bill Walker, who was speaking on behalf of the city of Valdez, which launched a $900,000 ad campaign against House Bill 4.

 

Meera Kohler, AVEC, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Photo by Dave HarbourYesterday, Meera Kohler (NGP Photo), President of the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, briefed Commonwealth North (CWN) members on, "a new proposal to transmit affordable electrical energy statewide and monetize Alaska’s stranded North Slope gas resources."  According to CWN, "High Voltage Direct Current technology, in conjunction with modern high efficiency compound gas turbine generation has the potential to provide a cost effective means of powering the Railbelt, taking Alaska gas to market and integrating Alaska’s diversified and spatially scattered population centers into a viable economic engine."