AGDC affirms its choice of Nikiski over Port Mac

ANCHORAGE — Alaska Gasline Development Corp. still believes Nikiski is the best site for its liquefaction facility.

At a press conference on Thursday, AGDC president Keith Meyer said Nikiski is still the preferred site for the large natural gas liquefaction plant and terminus of the large diameter gas pipeline. Port MacKenzie, in the Mat-Su Valley, is only under reconsideration from a U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission request, but Meyer’s comments make its selection unlikely.

“We’ve done a lot of analysis of each site and we’ve chosen Nikiski,” Meyer said.

“Alaska is blessed with good port locations, but we’re sticking with Nikiski. It’s a good site,” he said.

However, AGDC does plan to build a natural gas offtake facility at milepost 763 (measured from Prudhoe Bay) for gas withdrawals in the Mat-Su valley. The gas is expected to cost $5 to $6 dollars per million British Thermal Units for Alaskans, or MMBTU, which is roughly equivalent the same dollars per thousand cubic feet of gas.

The company says the pipeline project will generate jobs. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development released, “The Alaska LNG Project: Gasline Workforce Plan,” last month. The document outlines plans to develop a workforce for the project and summarizes the state’s training capacity. AGDC expects to employ 12,000 people during peak construction in 2023. Once the LNG pipeline is operational, AGDC claimed, “1,000 long-term direct jobs will be created.”

On March 13, a schedule was issued by the federal regulatory commission to AGDC. According to the plan, a draft Environmental Impact Statement will be completed by March 2019, with the final Environmental Impact Statement set for December of that year. Construction will begin after FERC finalizes its regulatory decision in March 2020.

Senior Vice President Frank Richards discussed the AGDC meeting with FERC in Washington D.C. in March. For the majority of FERC request, only tabletop analysis is necessary. However, some fieldwork is still required. The fieldwork will focus on cultural resource sites and will cost around $3 million. September is the planned completion date for the fieldwork.

Meyer also spoke about a visit by 38 members from AGDC’s Chinese partners to Alaska to further plan and inspect the proposed pipeline. Some toured the complete route while others addressed shipping issues and development costs. The Chinese delegation paid for its trip with its own funds, Meyer said. AGDC currently has staff of the company in China continuing the joint development negotiations.

AGDC has not selected the builder of the pipeline, but Sinopec is under consideration. If used, Sinopec will rely on Alaskan contractors for their expertise with the state’s environmental conditions.

Don Mateer is a journalism student at the University of Alaska Anchorage