Foothills Pipe Lines Ltd. has recruited an early ally for itseffort to revive the dormant Alaska Natural Gas TransportationSystem — the government of Canada’s Yukon Territory.

In Whitehorse, the Yukon capital, Economic Development MinisterTrevor Harding announced a pipeline unit has been added to hisdepartment and is taking the initiative in starting discussions onreviving ANGTS.

The decision made it plain that the Yukon sides with Foothillsin emerging competition to advance an Arctic gas transportationmegaproject. The step followed two weeks of meetings between Yukonrepresentatives and Foothills executives.

Harding said “our goal is to secure the Alaska Highway route.”Foothills and its owners, TransCanada PipeLines and WestcoastEnergy, continue to support the original ANGTS along the roadthrough the Yukon.

Also in contention to deliver northern gas is a newer groupcalled Arctic Resources (Alaska). Backed by Houston-based MunicipalEnergy Resources Corp., Arctic proposes a Y-shaped alternative toANGTS with an underwater connection between the Mackenzie Delta andPrudhoe Bay, then a route south via the Mackenzie Valley. The rivalto ANGTS is understood to be generating considerable support in theNorthwest Territories, although its leaders have yet to take sidesas plainly as the Yukon government.

The rivalry has been set off by growing belief in forecaststhat the “lower-48” United States market will expand to 30 Tcf peryear, generating strong prices for a decade or more. Theprojections have also set off an exploration revival in theNorthwest Territories by a long lineup of producers ranging fromChevron Canada Resources to Alberta Energy Co., as well as a studyrevisiting the economics of tapping about 13 Tcf of reserves heldin the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort Sea region by Shell Canada, GulfCanada and Imperial Oil. The exploration revival has begun goingbeyond acquisitions of drilling leases into field activity, withSchlumberger seismic-survey crews now being dispatched into Arcticterrain.

In Whitehorse, Harding said the Yukon government is alsoestablishing a pipeline advisory committee. The economicdevelopment minister reported that while his department’s newpipeline unit has begun work, invitations to join the committeehave been sent to representatives of environmental, business, localgovernment and labor organizations. An olive branch has also beenextended to native leaders, for “government-to-government”discussions, accepting aboriginal insistence that their communitiesare self-governing equals of territorial authorities.

Gordon Jaremko, Calgary

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