Energy giants
Exxon Mobil Corporation
(
XOM
),
BP Plc
(
BP
),
ConocoPhillips
(
COP
) along with Calgary-based
TransCanada Corp.
(
TRP
) have planned a mega project to transport liquefied natural gas
(LNG) from Alaska. Project costs are expected to touch a whopping
$65.0 billion.
The project will comprise an 800 mile pipeline, which will run from
North Slope to South-Central Alaska. It also includes the
construction of a liquefaction plant and storage tanks. For the LNG
terminal, as many as 22 different sites are being considered by the
companies participating in the project.
The mega project will require 1.7 millions metric tons of steel and
employ 15,000 people at the construction site. It will also
comprise a plant to eliminate carbon dioxide from gas and marine
facilities.
TransCanada - one of Canada's largest pipeline companies - will be
in charge of building the North Slope pipeline to transport gas to
the export terminals. The company will receive a reimbursement of
$500 million toward meeting development costs.
The project will take more than 10 years to complete owing to its
massive size and scale and other technical, legal, political &
financial challenges.
Due to a drop in the region's oil productivity, the Alaskan
government and the energy companies are exploring other avenues to
sell gas from North Slope in order to generate revenue. There may
be around 35 trillion cubic feet of reserves and more than 200
trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas in the North Slope. There
are plans to export 3.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
In the next couple of decades, liquefied natural gas from
Australia, East Africa, the U.S., Gulf Coast and Canada will enter
the global markets posing stiff competition for the venture.
Currently, Exxon Mobil, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips and TransCanada all
hold a Zacks #3 Rank, which implies a short-term 'Hold' rating.
BP PLC (BP): Free Stock Analysis Report
CONOCOPHILLIPS (COP): Free Stock Analysis
Report
TRANSCDA CORP (TRP): Free Stock Analysis Report
EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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