ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- The Point Thomson gas field in Alaska is a key supplier to a North American market expecting substantial increases in energy demand, Exxon Mobil officials said.
Exxon Mobil President Rich Kruger told delegates at the 2010 Meet Alaska Conference in Anchorage that developing Point Thomson gas fields in Alaska's North Slope would push developments of a pipeline to feed markets in Canada and the Lower 48.
"Exxon Mobil wants to see Point Thomson developed," he stressed.
Kruger said he expects energy demand to be roughly 35 percent higher in 2030 than it was in 2005. Demand for natural gas, meanwhile, is expected to be 55 percent higher than 2005 levels.
Consumers, he said, will make cleaner-burning natural gas "the fuel of choice," putting Alaska in "an enviable position" to emerge as a regional energy supplier.
Alaska's Republican Gov. Sean Parnell during his annual state of the state address last week said "gushers" in the Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson regions require an ambitious effort to exploit.
The governor said that Alaskans must work together to advance oil and gas development, including the construction of a gas network to the Lower 48 states.
"It will demand the best of all of us," said Parnell.
