Alaska‘s Senate on Wednesday sent a bill to Gov. Bill Walker that is intended to block his ability to pursue upsizing of the state’s instate gasline plan as an alternative to the oil/gas producer-backed AK LNG export project. House lawmakers introduced the bill (HB 132) in early March (see Daily GPI, March 4). It was read for the first time in the Senate on March 25 after House passage March 23. Walker has said he will not sign the bill, and backers were not seen as having enough votes to override a veto.

Apache Corp. has sold its interests in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Australia and is close to completing the sale of a 50% stake in the proposed Kitimat LNG facility planned for British Columbia, both to Australian-based Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (see Daily GPI, Dec. 15, 2014). Apache completed the sale of its interest in the Chevron Corp.-led Wheatstone LNG project and upstream reserves in Australia for close to $2.82 billion. The sale included equity ownership in subsidiary Apache Julimar Pty Ltd., which owns a 13% interest in Wheatstone and a 65% interest in oil and gas fields. The sale of Kitimat and related upstream acreage in the Horn River and Liard basins is expected to be completed this month with proceeds of about $854 million. Chevron, which is joint partner and is to operate of Kitimat, has said Wheatstone is a top priority, but it has been mum about the final investment decision for Kitimat (see Daily GPI, Jan. 30).