Anchorage, AK – The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) released a statement Monday clarifying the status of the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline (ASAP) project. In the last few days, several media outlets have incorrectly reported that the corporation’s board of directors took action to suspend work on the ASAP project during their September 23rd meeting in Anchorage.

In a prepared statement, AGDC President Dan Fauske said:

The Alaska LNG project continues to be this corporation’s number one priority. However, our board’s direction to management has been clear – continue to maintain the viability and readiness of the Alaska Stand Alone Pipeline (ASAP) project as the state’s backup plan. The corporation is prudently managing the state’s resources by eliminating duplication of effort and cost, but intent on preserving ASAP’s knowledge base and readiness in the event the Alaska LNG initiative does not progress to project sanctioning. At our September meeting, the AGDC board received a progress update from the ASAP team, but issued no directional change to management regarding the project.

In January, AGDC completed FEED and delivered a full Class 3 cost estimate for the ASAP project. The milestone was the culmination of a substantial body of work, conducted over several years and it was achieved on-time and under budget. However, in response to the State of Alaska’s decision to prioritize the Alaska LNG project, the AGDC board prudently adjusted the future work plan, budget and timeline of the ASAP project to bring it into alignment with key Alaska LNG decision milestones. This included postponing additional commercial activities pending an outcome on the Alaska LNG project. With principal ASAP engineering work completed, AGDC has concentrated its work efforts on continuing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) process so that federal permits and right-of-ways for the ASAP project can be secured.

During last week’s board meeting, the ASAP project team confirmed that AGDC filed a revised Section 404 Clean Water Act permit application with the Corps on September 10th and would also be submitting an updated right-of-way lease amendment to the State of Alaska within the next several weeks. The team also highlighted that it has recently posted a new interactive map viewer to the ASAP website in support of the SEIS process. The map viewer allows the public to explore the project’s alignment, geographic footprint, facilities and design components in order to better visualize the project and its potential impacts.

The ASAP project is designed to deliver utility grade natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope to Fairbanks, Anchorage and as many other communities within the state as possible. The project consists of a gas conditioning facility, a 36-inch diameter pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to ENSTAR’s existing gas distribution system near Anchorage at Big Lake; and a 30-mile lateral to Fairbanks.

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