Neither of two routes proposed for construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to the contiguous 48 states would be economically feasible without government incentives. That's the conclusion of a recently completed $125-million study sponsored by the major North Slope oil and gas producers.
The Alaska Gas Producers Team, comprising BP, ExxonMobil Corp. and Phillips Petroleum Co., launched the study in December 2000 with a budget of $75 million and a working estimate of about $10 billion for a line that could transport as much as 4 billion cu ft per day (ENR 12/18/00 p. 32). One proposed route for the line, known as the ÒnorthernÓ route, would run from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, offshore under the Beaufort Sea to Mackenzie Delta and continue south up the Mackenzie Valley, covering 1,800 miles. The ÒsouthernÓ route would parallel the Trans Alaska Pipeline south to Fairbanks, Alaska, then follow the Alaska-Canada Highway, a total distance of about 2,140 miles.