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Alaska to Pay $5.75 Billion for Exxon LNG Project Stake

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exxon-mobil_LogoAlaska plans to jump-start a $45 billion natural gas export project by pitching in more than 10 percent of the cost and joining Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), BP Plc (BP/), ConocoPhillips and TransCanada Corp. (TRP) as an equity partner.

The agreement between the state and the four companies outlines a framework in which Alaska would take as much as a 25 percent stake in a proposed gas processing plant, an 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope and a liquefaction facility in the Kenai Peninsula.

Governor Sean Parnell has asked the Alaska legislature to approve the deal and give state agencies the ability to negotiate shipping and leasing arrangements, according to a statement released today by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

“This is the first time we’ve had all of the parties aligned on a path forward,” Joe Balash, the department’s commissioner, said in a phone interview today before the announcement. The deal gives the project a “good shot” at proceeding, he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Oil Industry Targets Senators in Alaska Oil Tax Fight

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The energy industry is making a concerted push to defeat state senators in Alaska who have blocked a $2 billion tax cut favored by oil producers.

Through television and radio ads and direct mail, industry-linked advocacy groups are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to urge Alaska’s 506,000 voters to cast their ballots for “oil tax reform.” That would entail ousting a bipartisan group of 16 state senators in the 20-member chamber, all but one of whom are up for re-election this year, political experts say.

The big three energy companies—Exxon Mobil Corp., XOM -1.45% ConocoPhillips, COP -1.32% and BP BP.LN -1.40% PLC—can’t legally make direct donations to campaigns. But oil-company-employee political-action committees have made contributions, energy executives have held fundraisers and two Republican senate candidates work for the industry.

“We’re proud that we’ve been part of the Alaska family of companies that has brought this wealth to its people,” said Bob Bell, a Republican Senate candidate from Anchorage whose engineering firm did nearly $1 million in work for BP last year and who favors the tax cut.

But the targeted senators raised and spent more than their challengers according to the latest campaign-spending reports, although a last-minute surge of spending could change that balance. They have received backing in part from government-employee unions, which have grown along with government payrolls because of an influx of oil taxes. The taxes and other oil-related payments account for 90% of state revenue.

Read more from this story HERE.