ConocoPhillips and BP to construct Alaska Gas Pipeline

ConocoPhillips Company (NYSE: COP) and BP plc (LSE:BP, NYSE: BP, TYO: 5051, TSX: BP.U) will cooperate in creation of the Alaska Gas Pipeline.

Photo: ConocoPhillips and BP to construct Alaska Gas Pipeline

The project is claimed to be the largest in the private sector in North America and is believed to be worth of $20 billion.

The pipeline will supply Canada and the United States with natural gas and will account for 8% of overall U.S. natural-gas demand.

The Denali pipeline will be a nearly 3,600 miles of large diameter, high-pressure buried pipeline and will carry about 4 billion cubic feet of natural-gas a day to markets. It will cost about $600 million to reach the first major project milestone before the end of 2010.

The companies reported that they had invited the third party, Exxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and had already assigned staff to the joint project team which would be ramping up over the coming months.

The first steps to take are to gain key regulatory approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the U.S. and the National Energy Board in Canada, and to convince Alaskan authorities that this is the best plan for developing the state's extensive gas resources.