British multinational oil and gas giant BP plc. has signed a "binding" agreement with Alaska's pipeline development agency, the Alaska Gas Development Corp. (AGDC), to sell gas to Alaska's gasline project, a media report said Tuesday.
BP is the first international oil and gas producer to sign such a deal, inked last Friday, with AGDC on gas sales in what is called "a historic milestone" in the decades-long effort to construct a natural gas pipeline in Alaska, the northwestern U.S. state, said the Anchorage Daily News.
AGDC said in a statement Monday that it had agreed with BP to key terms of pricing and volume for the gas sales, without elaborating on further details.
Alaska's gas line project is a major initiative of Alaska Governor Bill Walker's administration, which would see an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas from Prudhoe Bay, taken down through a 1,287-km-long pipeline and turned into Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) at a plant before being shipped overseas.
"We are very pleased to be part of the state's vision to bring Alaskan natural gas to new and expanding markets globally," BP CEO Bob Dudley said.
Walker hailed the agreement as "one step closer to cleaner air, more jobs and more affordable energy to power homes and businesses."
Major China-owned companies have also studied the project for potential long-term investment.
Last November, China's state-owned oil company Sinopec and a pair of financial institutions, including Bank of China, signed an agreement to advance Alaska's liquefied natural gas export project.
Sinopec would buy Alaska LNG, Bank of China would lend money, and China Investment Corp. would invest in the project, AGDC President Keith Meyer said last year.
China is Alaska's largest trading partner and leads the world in projected natural gas consumption in an effort to cut carbon emissions and other pollution from coal-fired power plants and diesel engines.
Editor:Amber
