Conocophillps

Alaska on Tuesday announced an agreement with the three major North Slope producers — BP plc, ConocoPhillps and ExxonMobil Corp. — to build a new natural gas pipeline to transport as much as 4.5 Bcf/d of new supplies to the Lower 48. The agreement, tied to a proposed new oil and gas tax system, still has to be approved by the state legislature, which could balk at attempts by Gov. Frank Murkowski to give the producers too many incentives.