Canadá : August 13, 2008

TransCanada Corporation, based in Calgary Alberta, is developing a $26 billion 1,715 mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to the Alberta gas hub in Canada. The pipeline is envisioned to have the capacity to ship 4.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day through a 48-inch diameter line. This capacity will be expandable to 5.9 billion cubic feet per day.

TransCanada received a license from the state of Alaska as part of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. The company is commencing its project development and hopes to conclude an initial binding open season by July 2010. During this period, they will be negotiating with potential shippers and securing contracts. TransCanada is projecting to have the pipeline fully operational by September 2018.

Oil giants BP and ConocoPhillips are working on a project that would rival TransCanada’s pipeline – the Denali Alaska Gas Pipeline. The Denali pipe would stretch 2,000 miles from the Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope to Alberta with an option of expanding another 1,500 miles into the lower 48 states of the United States.

Some have argued that constructing two pipelines at the same location does not make good economic sense. BP and Conoco did not participate in the competition for the state supported pipeline. They will most likely contribute gas supply to the TransCanada pipeline along with other producers presuming that an agreement is reached with the state of Alaska regarding taxes and royalties that will secure their economic interests. “They can commit gas to the TransCanada project and receive fiscal certainty, or they can move ahead with the Denali project and forego fiscal certainty”, said Kurt Gibson, deputy director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas.

Alaska’s North Slope contains an estimated 35 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas reserves which was discovered by drilling for oil. The Alaskan Government believe another 250 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves remain undiscovered.