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FAIRBANKS - The merits of an all-Alaska pipeline project will get another look, lawmakers have decided.

The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee on Wednesday directed an economic consulting firm to review such a project as one pitched by the Alaska Gasline Port Authority.

Rep. Ralph Samuels, R-Anchorage, asked the Los Angeles-based Econ One to review the port authority plan at the request of House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez.

Harris said he was acting on behalf of the port authority, which had expressed concern that its project wouldn't get a thorough review.

Harris told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that there was some concern that a study of a liquefied natural gas, or LNG, project like the port authority's would "get left as a secondary thing."

"I'm not saying the LNG project is the right one - I don't know," he said. "But I don't think any of us will be able to know until we have a bit more information."

Authority officials have pressed lawmakers this session not to give up on an all-Alaska route, even though the authority has failed to qualify for consideration under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act.

Gov. Sarah Palin's administration ruled in early January that the port authority's application under AGIA was incomplete and rejected a request for reconsideration.

The authority said it could not get project cost and other data from industry partners who pulled out of the bid.

The port authority is a coalition of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the city of Valdez and the North Slope Borough. It proposed an 806-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. From there, the gas would be liquefied for transport on tankers.

"We think there should an independent, robust evaluation of the LNG (proposal)," said Bill Walker, the port authority's project manager.

The Legislative Budget and Audit Committee on Wednesday also renewed contracts with Econ One, Steve Porter and Dan Dickinson, two members of former Gov. Frank Murkowski's gas pipeline team.

The committee also hired energy economist John Neri of Maryland-based Benjamin Schlesinger and Associates Inc. to study pipeline shipping rates and rate-making methods and to put out a bid for a consultant to study the finances of various pipeline entities.

The total value of the extended and new contracts is $800,000.

The committee also has an active contract with the Washington, D.C., law firm Saul Ewing.

Samuels said he has asked Porter to review the application submitted by TransCanada under AGIA and answer any questions committee members have.