ADN by (AP) Becky Bohrer.  BP PLC has joined Conoco Phillips in saying it expects its capital investment in the state to be flat this year.

Financial Post by (Reuters) Oil companies behind a $16.2-billion plan to build a gas pipeline from the Canadian Arctic expect to restart talks with Ottawa shortly over financial support in hopes of striking a deal by mid-year, the head of one of the partners said on Wednesday.  The players have scheduled a conference call for next week to hammer out a timetable for the discussions, seen as crucial to the Mackenzie pipeline project’s success, said Bob Reid (NGP Photo), president of Aboriginal Pipeline Group.  Backers of the long-delayed development won regulatory approval in December and are now awaiting a final nod from the federal cabinet.  "There’s a conference call set up for next week to try and schedule the re-engaging, and we want to do that — we want to get back and get this thing done," Reid told reporters after speaking to a Canadian Institute Arctic gas conference. "It is absolutely urgent from our perspective."

Calgary Herald by Deborah Yedlin.  Despite low natural gas prices, and a bungled regulatory process, not everyone has given up hope on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.  TransCanada’s chief executive, Russ Girling, made that very point last week as he addressed a group invited by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy that coincided with TransCanada’s announcement of a $1 million gift to the School.

Pipeline and Gas Journal by Zaheer Jan.  The state remains bullish about a pipeline for transporting gas from Alaska’s North Slope to the lower forty eight states. I am too. North Slope’s proven natural gas reserves currently stand at around 30 Tcf. Alaska governor Sean Parnell (NGP Photo) has said the state is working to settle a lease dispute seen as critical to building the natural gas pipeline (P&GJ, December 2010, p.4). I trust this happens soon.  Further, Parnell said he still supports the state’s plan for developing the pipeline established by former Gov. Sarah Palin (NGP Photo) in 2007 (ibid).