Is Alaska Gas Project Feasible? - Producers Seek Alaska LNG Export Extension

Calgary Herald by Dina O'meara.  Natural gas futures dropped 16 US cents to $3.857 US per million British thermal units on opening trades in New York this morning after a larger than expected injection into storage was announced by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Bharat Book Bureau.  Denali's competitive advantage over AGIA.

Minyanville. Editor’s Note: This article was written by Darrell Delamaide for OilPrice.com, which offers free information and analysis on Energy and Commodities. The site has sections devoted to Fossil Fuels, Alternative Energy, Metals, Oilprices and Geopolitics.  Two competing projects for a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48 states put the cost somewhere between $32 billion and $40 billion, even as the explosion of shale gas production calls the whole enterprise into question.  ...  A filing earlier this year from a competing project mounted by TransCanada and ExxonMobil(XOM) estimated costs for a similar route at $32 billion to $41 billion.  Both projects will now seek to line up firm commitments from customers and suppliers in a process called “open season” to analyze the feasibility of building the pipeline.  However, plummeting gas prices resulting from increased gas production from unconventional resources like shale gas -- what the Cambridge Energy Research Associates called a “shale gale” in a recent report -- may undermine the economics of the project, critics say. They question whether even one pipeline should be built, let alone two.

ADN by Elizabeth Bluemink.  Conoco Phillips and Marathon Oil said Thursday they will attempt to renew their federal license to export liquefied natural gas from Cook Inlet. ... The Parnell administration, Anchorage utilities and some legislators applauded the companies' decision to seek renewal of the export license from the federal Department of Energy. They said the LNG plant is vital to the Kenai Peninsula economy and to Southcentral utilities.  "This LNG facility provides the backstop for gas supplies during very cold winter days," said Sharon Leighow, spokeswoman for Gov. Sean Parnell. ... "Without exports, you have no place to put the gas in the summer. You'd have to shut in wells, and then you wouldn't have (enough gas) in the winter" for utility customers, said Lee Thibert, the senior vice president for strategic planning and corporate affairs for Chugach Electric Association.