In the pipeline: state, producers look ahead to putting Alaskans into pipeline occupations.

• Author: West, Gail
• Position: OIL & GAS

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With so many on board supporting Alaska's gas pipeline, including America's new president, the question is not whether but when it will be built.

According to an Anchorage Daily News article dated Feb. 11, President Barack Obama called the gas pipeline "promising" and agreed that it should be a topic of conversation when he visited the Canadian prime minister, Stephen Harper, in mid-February. He went on to say he believed that, "as part of a comprehensive energy strategy ... (it) makes a lot of sense."

Currently, there are two organizations moving forward toward open season, a period during which gas producers and shippers identify each other, express their interest in the pipeline and reach agreement with regulators on costs, tariffs and other considerations. They are Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. and Denali--The Alaska Gas Pipeline. Denali is a consortium effort put together by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and ConocoPhillips, two of the three major owners of the North Slope gas reserves.

The final pipeline route is still in flux, but it's generally agreed that it will run from the North Slope through Canada and into the Lower 48, perhaps ending at Chicago. All along the route, there will be construction camps, materials and workers involved in a wide variety of projects. The vast majority of those pipeline jobs are still in the hazy future, the time frame for their hire still undetermined.

ALASKANS REAP CONTRACTS

Both TransCanada and Denali, however, have already begun to put some Alaskans to work.

Bud Fackrell, Denali's president, said the company had more than 30 Alaska-based companies working during 2008, and anticipates that number will grow during 2009 when preliminary engineering for the gas-treatment plant and the Alaska-to-Alberta mainline is conducted. Denali also anticipates continued fieldwork in Alaska and in Canada.

Tony Palmer, vice president of Maska Development for TransCanada, said in a late-January report to the Maska House of Representatives Resources Committee, that some Alaska contractors were already benefiting from pipeline work. Palmer said TransCanada's contractor for the current stage of the work is an Anchorage-based firm, and that TransCanada anticipates Alaska companies to be competitive on future work.

If TransCanada is the firm that builds the gas pipeline, Palmer said his company estimates they'll need to employ 6,000 to 8,000 people.

STATE'S WORK FORCE

Brian Rae, an economist and...