ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. and international oil companies announced they winnowed a list of more than 20 sites for an LNG terminal in Alaska down to one on the Kenai Peninsula.
Exxon Mobil, Canadian energy company TransCanada, British energy company BP and ConocoPhillips said they selected the peninsula along Alaska's southern coast for a proposed liquefied natural gas plant and terminal.
"This is a step forward for the Alaska LNG project and shows continued progress toward building Alaska's energy future," Steve Butt, senior project manager, said in a statement Monday.
He said the peninsular site leaves the partners with a good pipeline route for natural gas on Alaska's North Slope. The companies said they looked at more than 20 locations and remain open to secondary locations.
"A number of engineering, technical, regulatory, fiscal, commercial and permitting issues still need to be resolved as work on the potential $45 billion [to more than] $65 [billion] project progresses," they said.
The state said the site could produce as much as 18 million tons of LNG per year. A pipeline from the North Slope could carry more than 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually.
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said in a statement the decision represents "real progress" in securing Alaska's energy future.
