Oil cos say Alaska decision won't alter gas plan

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 28 (Reuters) - Oil companies ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday they would forge ahead with a plan to build a gas pipeline regardless of Alaskan officials' decision on a competing proposal by TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Both proposals are for roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) pipelines to ship gas that has long languished on Alaska's North Slope to an existing pipeline hub at the Alberta-British Columbia border.

Officials from ConocoPhillips and BP, which this month announced a natural gas alliance, said they need no sanction from the state to continue their project and are unaffected by the outcome of a likely special legislative session this summer to decide on TransCanada's bid for a state license to build its gas pipeline.

"Whether it's awarded or not, we will move forward with this project. Therefore, we will obviously watch with interest a special session, but it doesn't directly impact our project," Angus Walker, senior vice president for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc, told the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce.

ConocoPhillips has already pledged to spend $40 million this year on summer field work, starting June 1, that will be unaffected by any decision about TransCanada, said Brian Wenzel, a ConocoPhillips vice president in charge of gas pipeline issues.

That work will include route reconnaissance, identification of sensitive areas that need protection and other field studies necessary as a precursor to an environmental-impact statement and permitting, Wenzel said.

Ultimately, at the peak of construction several years from now, 10,000 people will be employed on the project, Wenzel vowed to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce audience. "Clearly we're going to need all the bodies that we can find," he said.

TransCanada has estimated its project price at $26 billion, and is awaiting state approval for a bid it submitted under the Alaska Gasoline Inducement Act (AGIA), a year-old law that established a competitive system for gas projects vying for a state license and state fiscal inducements.