It seems obvious to me that the relatively recent n. gas glut due to shale gas in the lower 48 and Western Canada is the problem.
They are not going to spend 10's of billions on a pipeline to sell $4 gas down south.
Either pipeline will take years to complete and the hope is that n. gas will be selling for much more when the pipe is done but as more and more shale gas comes on line and more and more shale gas formations are discovered this puts the dream of a northern pipeline from either country on the back burner for now. Again.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idAFN1650368320091116?rpc=44
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUKN1348260620091113
By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The federal official responsible for coordinating the planning of a proposed multibillion dollar Alaska natural gas pipeline resigned her position on Monday at the request of the Obama administration.
Republican Drue Pearce, a former Alaska state Senate president who has held the position since it was created by then President George W. Bush in 2006, she said will step down effective Jan. 3.
The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation is reviewing competing plans offered by both TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) (TRP.N) and a joint venture formed by BP (BP.L)(BP.N) and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) to build a pipeline to ship the vast stores of natural gas on Alaska's North Slope to domestic U.S. markets.
TransCanada holds a state license to build and operate a pipeline and entitles the company to up to $500 million in state subsidies and other preferences, although it is not a contract or a commitment to build the project. TransCanada earlier this year acquired Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) as a partner in its gas pipeline venture.
BP, ConocoPhillips and Exxon are the major North Slope oil producers and holders of most of the leases to the known supplies of North Slope natural gas.
TransCanada is proposing to build a large-diameter, 1,700-mile (2,736-km)line carrying about 4 billion cubic feet a day from Prudhoe Bay to Alberta, where a gas pipeline hub already exists, but the company is also considering other options for the project, such as a liquefied natural gas alternative that would involve an 800-mile (1,287-km) gas pipeline to Valdez.
The BP-ConocoPhillips joint venture, called Denali, is also considering a large-diameter pipeline to Alberta as well as other options for the project.
State officials have estimated that a pipeline to Alberta would cost $30 billion.
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