TransCanada getting more interest in Alaska LNG project than pipeline

ANCHORAGE – TransCanada Corp. told Alaska legislators on June 23 that it is getting serious interest in an LNG alternative to its all-land Alaska gas pipeline project as the company prepares for a 2010 initial open season.
TransCanada Vice President Tony Palmer said potential shippers have expressed interest in up to three billion cubic feet per day of gas for an LNG project at Valdez, which is up from two billion cubic feet TransCanada initially planned to offer as an LNG alternative to an all-land pipeline from northern Alaska.
Palmer would not disclose names of the companies expressing interest, but in recent years, four major firms - BG Energy, Mitsubishi, Sempra International and the Chinese-owned energy company Sinopec - have expressed interest in Alaska LNG.
Palmer said there is not enough gas available for both an LNG and land pipeline, at least initially, if three billion cubic feet a day is shipped to an LNG project in addition to the four billion cubic feet per day TransCanada hopes to ship through a land pipeline.
"It would be an either/or situation for us, not both," he told the House Resources Committee in the committee's meeting.