Gov. Frank Murkowski has signed a bill appropriating $1.65 million for efforts to bring North Slope natural gas to market.
The natural gas is intermingled with North Slope oil fields but is left behind when the oil is extracted because there is no pipeline for transporting the gas.
The bill includes $650,000 for the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority, which is pursing a pipeline and tanker project to export liquefied natural gas. The financing for that plan may include tax-exempt debt.
The remaining $1 million will be used to pay for pipeline proposal components, such as legal opinions regarding which tax-exempt bonding authorities can finance the pipeline, according to a news release.
This is another important step forward for my administrations commitment to bring Alaskas vast North Slope natural gas reserves to market in the Lower 48, Murkowski said.
