by Channel 2 News staff
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A federal workshop on the natural gas pipeline Tuesday was an important symbol to many.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviewed the timeline for conducting an open season-- a key step in building the pipeline.
If it's successful, producers will agree on terms to ship gas through the pipeline, which will signal to banks and other lenders that the pipeline is viable.
"Certainly there's a lot of risks left. There's a lot of unknowns still that we're going to have to work through, but this really is a milestone to get this close, this far along towards development of what we have considered to date, a very large stranded resource," said Bob Swenson, the in state gas line project manager.
Swenson is interested in the process because a spur from the main gas line might be one way to bring in-state natural gas to Alaska.
