TransCanada: 'Multiple Bids' for Alaska Gas Line

TransCanada Corp. has received multiple bids from "major industry players and others" that want to use its proposed pipeline to transport natural gas from Alaska's North Slope to market, a company official said Friday.

As expected, few details were released Friday, when TransCanada ended its 90-day process of courting gas producers and seeking shipping commitments for a proposed line. One reason cited for the secrecy was competition: Denali-The Alaska Gas Pipeline, a joint venture of BP PLC and ConocoPhillips, began its own open season a few weeks ago.

Tony Palmer, TransCanada's vice president of Alaska development, said he is encouraged about the pipeline's prospects for moving forward if "key conditions" are met.

He didn't specify those conditions but said the next step will be for TransCanada to work with potential customers to try to resolve their issues in the coming months. The goal is the signing of precedent agreements that let the company start spending hundreds of millions of dollars toward building a pipeline.

The stakes are high and the interest is intense: A gas pipeline has been held out for years as important to Alaska's long-term economic future, because the production of oil, which is largely responsible for keeping the state running, continues to decline. But questions remain about whether there's enough demand for Alaska's gas to justify a pipeline, and just how a line will be financed.

The drama and the political parlor game of "will it or won't it get built" is playing against the backdrop of a campaign for governor, with the gas line a leading issue in the GOP race.

Only one project is expected to go forward — if one advances at all. Officials both TransCanada and Denali said there have been no merger talks, and Denali spokesman Dave MacDowell said the results of TransCanada's open season "won't change what we're doing."

TransCanada, which is working with Exxon Mobil Corp. to advance its plan, successfully bid for an exclusive state pipeline license and the promise of up to a $500 million reimbursement under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act championed by then-Gov. Sarah Palin. The Denali project is getting no such state support and has said it doesn't agree with all the act's terms.