The Party Gasline

It's always surprising to me when I speak to relatively intelligent people who have accepted the notion that opening ANWR to exploration will be this huge economic boon to the state (and thus rank political candidates according to their stand on the issue), but give no thought to the natural gas pipeline.

NPRA has been open for some time and is geologically similar to ANWR, yet there has been no rush to exploration there, nor any major discovery ... the majors have all announced that they will not be spending resources on new exploration anywhere in Alaska, including ANWR ... where exactly will this "ANWR boom" come from? ANWR is, for the most part, a political fiction - a red meat issue for both sides.

The gas, though, is there, and we know it. The market for the gas is also there, and we know it (in Alaska and the lower 48 for the gas, and in Asia for LNG). Whether you're for or against it, this is the only resource issue where real money is in play for Alaska right now, and any public figure's position on the gas line has a lot to say about them.

One such figure that comes to mind is Scott Ogan (R - Evergreen), but Borealis has the take on this one already.