An 807-mile pipeline favored by Alaska’s congressional delegation would deliver cheaper in-state gas to population centers than importing it from other nations, according to a report commissioned by the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.
The interim study — written by energy analysts at Wood Mackenzie — forecasts that natural gas in Alaska’s Cook Inlet could be depleted by 2035. That gas currently provides both electricity and heat to the Anchorage region, where nearly half of the state’s population resides.
To help replace that supply, utilities like Enstar are weighing importing natural gas from other countries, but lawmakers continue to push for a long-awaited pipeline project to carry Arctic gas production to the state’s interior. The Alaska Gasline Development Corp. is an independent corporation created by the state. In 2014, the state ordered AGDC to pursue an Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
According to the Wood Mackenzie analysis published this month, imported gas would cost consumers between roughly $10 and $14 per million British thermal units. A natural gas pipeline connected to the state’s North Slope oil and gas fields — which AGDC has included in its larger LNG project proposal — however, would deliver gas that costs between $2 and $13 per MMBtu, according to the draft study.
