About Us
About the Project
TransCanada and ExxonMobil are working together to advance the Alaska Pipeline Project. The goal is to build and operate a pipeline system that will help develop Alaska's vast North Slope natural gas resources, support Alaska's, Canada's and the U.S. economies and provide a reliable, clean supply of domestic energy for the State of Alaska and North America. The Alaska Pipeline Project provides Alaska a viable option to develop its North Slope natural gas resources.
- It is progressing all aspects of the pipeline's development and is best positioned to succeed.
- It has the strongest team of companies in TransCanada and ExxonMobil.
- It has the backing of the State of Alaska.
- It has already secured regulatory certificates in Canada and holds land rights for substantial portions of the pipeline that runs in Canada.
- It possesses world class financial resources.
- It is meeting project commitments by conducting its initial open season in 2010.
A Key Moment
On July 30, 2010, the Alaska Pipeline Project concluded the first natural gas pipeline open season in the history of the North Slope-a major milestone in the development of Alaska's vast natural gas reserves. For further information on the Open Season, click here.
During the open season, the Alaska Pipeline Project provided information about its project to potential shippers, including such details as anticipated projects costs, engineering design, tariffs and timelines. Potential shippers assessed this information to determine their interest in shipping their natural gas in the pipeline under the terms that were offered. The project needs these long-term transportation commitments—often lasting for several decades into the future — to secure the financing required to build and operate the project.
Two Options
During the open season, the Alaska Pipeline Project presented two alternative pipeline options for shipper evaluation:
- One option would transport North Slope natural gas across Alaska to Alberta, Canada, where it could be further transported to North American natural gas markets. Communities in Alaska and Canada would also have the opportunity to access the natural gas for local needs through a number of take-off locations along the pipeline route.
- Another option is to move the natural gas south to Valdez, Alaska, where shippers could arrange to liquefy the gas and ship it on tankers to North American or international markets. Communities in Alaska would have the opportunity to access gas under this option as well.
The Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) was designed to test both options. In 2008, the Alaska legislature voted to award the exclusive license to develop the project under AGIA to TransCanada. ExxonMobil, the holder of the largest amount of natural gas on the North Slope, joined the project in 2009.
Major Milestone
The Alaska Pipeline Project’s open season was conducted as planned. On January 29, 2010, the project submitted its open season plan for the review and approval of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). After a two month review process, which included a public comment period, FERC approved the project’s plan on March 31, 2010. Having secured FERC approval, the Alaska Pipeline Project commenced its open season with potential shippers on April 30. As required by FERC regulations, the open season ran for 90 days through July 30. A separate but coordinated open season for the Canadian portion of the project was conducted concurrently in Canada. The initial open season of the Alaska Pipeline Project closed on July 30. The project received multiple bids from potential shippers. The next step, as is typical for a project of this scale and complexity and as anticipated in the project’s FERC open season plan, is for the project to assess and negotiate the issues and conditions that are incorporated within the bids received from potential shippers.
Meticulous Preparation
By the end of the open season, the Alaska Pipeline Project has spent approximately US$150 million to develop the detailed engineering designs and other studies needed to produce reliable estimates of what it will cost to construct and operate the gas treatment plant and the pipeline. This work builds on the extensive historical work undertaken separately by TransCanada and ExxonMobil over the past many years.
This extensive preparation is essential because potential shippers must be confident in the quality and credibility of the project's open season offering. The reliability of the engineering, cost estimates and other commercial aspects of the offering are of vital importance to the shippers so that they can make an informed assessment of the risks they must take in making long-term financial commitments for space in the pipeline.