FERC Approves Alaska LNG Project Prefiling request, Sean Parnell, Governr, Alaska, Dave Harbour PhotoFERC Approves Alaska LNG Project Pre-filing Request.  

Governor Sean Parnell (NGP Photo) said yesterday. "Alaska is well-positioned to bring gas to Alaskans and markets beyond."

See Pipelines International Report.  -dh

*     *     *

Bill Walker, Alaska, Governor, Candidate, LNG Project, Valdez, lawyer, Dave Harbour Photo

We consider this Alaska Journal of Commerce piece by Tim Bradner to be the most enlightening analysis to date of the Alaska LNG Project perspectives of Governor Sean Parnell and his challenger, Valdez lawyer Bill Walker (NGP Photo).  -dh

Calgary Herald by James Wood.  Alberta’s new point man in Washington believes the tide is turning in favour of the Keystone XL pipeline and he plans to be direct — but polite — in pushing the stalled project.

James Prentice, Premier, Alberta, Keystone, Rob Merrifield, Dave Harbour PhotoRob Merrifield, named this week by Premier Jim Prentice (NGP Photo) to serve as the province’s representative to the United States, said in an interview that upcoming mid-term Congressional elections could be “pivotal” for the proposed $5.4-billion TransCanada Pipelines’ project aimed at connecting Alberta’s oilsands to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

President Barack Obama has delayed making a decision on the pipeline but Merrifield said Thursday the Senate is only three votes short on a vote on Keystone.

CBC.  Barack Obama's Energy Secretary, Ernest Moniz, was in Ottawa for talks Thursday and signed a memorandum of understanding with Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford on 11 areas of bilateral energy co-operation.

At a joint news conference, both were asked whether Ukraine could soon import oil and gas from North America to help reduce its dependence on Russian energy.

"We're taking steps to diversify our markets," Rickford said, reiterating the Harper government's strategy of trying to find new export opportunities in response to a declining demand in the U.S. for Canadian oil as it builds its own indigenous supplies.

"We're looking for our rightful place in a fair global pricing of oil," Rickford said. "I think that's obvious and plain and clear."

When Moniz was asked whether his department had been asked to examine the viability of oil exports from Texas to Europe, all he would say is that "we provide technical assistance when we can to our administration colleagues."

In the short term, the U.S. does not have a surplus of domestic oil available to export to Ukraine. But, he hinted, that could change.