British energy giant BP and US-based ConocoPhillips announced plans on Monday to build one of the world’s largest natural gas pipelines from Alaska to Canada.
The companies said the proposed pipeline would be more than 1,126km long and stretch from a gas treatment plant on Alaska’s North Slope into Canada through the Yukon Territory and British Columbia to Alberta.
The planned Alaska Gas Pipeline — called Denali — would be able to ship 113 million cubic meters of natural gas per day to markets.
The two energy groups said it would also be the “largest private sector construction project ever built in North America.”
The two firms said they would spend US$600 million on the project before 2010, after which they would need to gain approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Canada’s National Energy Board before they can start construction.
“This project is vital for North American energy consumers and for the future of the Alaska oil and gas industry. It will allow us to keep our North Slope fields in production for another 50 years,” BP chief executive Tony Hayward said.
“The Alaska Gas Pipeline project will deliver natural gas to meet North America’s growing energy needs,” ConocoPhillips chairman and CEO Jim Mulva said.
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