Alaska Gov. Frank H. Murkowski said the state has reviewed and accepted TransCanada Corp.’s application to negotiate a contract to build a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope under the state’s Stranded Gas Development Act.

Calgary-based TransCanada and subsidiary, Alaskan Northwest Natural Gas Transportation Co., proposed negotiating a contract to build a 48-inch diameter pipeline from the North Slope to the Alaska-Yukon Territory border, where 4.5 Bcf/d of gas would feed into the Canadian portion of the project for distribution across North America.

Talks between TransCanada and state officials are expected to begin within the next few weeks, according to Murkowski’s office. This is the third application that the state is actively negotiating with companies interested in building a pipeline to move Alaska’s North Slope gas.

The state of Alaska also is in talks with a group of three major North Slope producers — BP, ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil — and Enbridge, another Canadian pipeline company.

“We have real commitments from these companies that want to build the pipeline,” said Murkowski, a long-time proponent of an Alaska gas pipeline. “It is my hope that we will have a contract from one or more of these groups to present to the legislature in January.”

The Stranded Gas Development Act allows the state to negotiate a contract for payments in lieu of state and municipal taxes on a gas line project, with the intent of providing a greater degree of fiscal certainty for developers of the proposed multi-billion-dollar project.

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