Russ Oil-Gas

June 09, 2008 - Kommersant - Gazprom is prepared to participate in a 6000-km. Prudhoe Bay, Alaska-Alberta-Chicago natural gas pipeline, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller stated at the St. Petersburg International economic Forum. It has sent a proposal to ConocoPhillips and BP, which are implementing the project, but there has been no reply yet. Therefore, Gazprom is covering its bases and has begun negotiations with TransCanada on a different pipeline from Alaska to Canada. ConocoPhillips and BP announced the project on April 8. The new pipeline is planned in two stages, the first stretching 3400 km. to the Canadian province of Alberta, and the second extending another 2400 km. to Chicago. The pipeline will have a capacity of 41.36 billion cu. m. of gas annually. Alaska has estimated gas reserves of 1 trillion cu. m. The project will cost about $30 billion to implement, $5 billion of which will go to build a gas processing plant in Alaska. In the first three years, costs will be low ($600 million) while the companies conciliate the project with regional authorities and the U.S. and Canadian governments. The project should be completed within ten years. Gazprom was unwilling to specify the size of the share in the project it is pursuing, or how much money it is willing to invest in it. BP declined to comment on Gazprom’s offer, and no ConocoPhillips spokesman could be reached on Sunday. Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev said unofficially at the forum that Gazprom is negotiating with TransCanada for a $26-billion Alaska-Alberta project.