Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), BP, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and TransCanada have signed an agreement to advance the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
The project has entered the pre-front end engineering and design (Pre-FEED) phase, which will see producing parties investing on design and engineering.
The deal will enable the parties to move towards a permitting phase and carry out work to apply for an export licence with the US Department of Energy.
Each producer party and the state will start to engage the LNG sales market during the phase.
The project includes construction of a gas treatment plant at Prudhoe Bay to eliminate carbon dioxide and other impurities from produced gas.
Plans also include 58-mile pipeline from Point Thomson gas field to Prudhoe Bay and 800-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Nikiski.
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By GlobalDataA LNG plant, storage and tanker terminal will also be built at Nikiski.
Alaska Governor Sean Parnell said: "I am pleased all parties continue to make progress on building an Alaska gasline project that will create thousands of Alaska jobs and fuel Alaska homes and businesses.
"This milestone marks the historic progress we have made on a gasline. Our way forward will continue to be on Alaska’s terms and in Alaskans’ interests."
The latest deal will precede a second phase of work, which is anticipated to commence in 2016, subject to another agreement and the Legislature approval.
AGDC president Dan Fauske was quoted by Anchorage Daily News as saying that production will not begin until 2025 or 2026.
