Coordinator clarifies his stance

Editor's note: The article referenced in the letter below is titled "Pipeline official defends secrecy." It ran in Wednesday's edition of the Empire and is available onliine.

I would like to clarify a couple of points regarding the open seasons for an Alaska natural gas pipeline, as reported July 21 in the Empire.

I did not defend any secrecy, nor did I question any calls by gubernatorial candidates that open seasons bids should be made public. I merely stated that federal law - which governs the open season process for determining shipper interest in using a regulated, interstate natural gas pipeline - does not require either the bidders or pipeline developers to release copies of the bids to anyone. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees the process, does not get a copy of the bids, nor does the state or my office or any other government agency.

The bidding process is a commercial negotiation between potential shippers on the gas pipeline and a potential developer of the multibillion-dollar project.

The two open seasons for a gas line close July 30 (TransCanada/ExxonMobil, known as The Alaska Pipeline Project) and Oct. 4 (ConocoPhillips/BP, known as Denali). If negotiations for shipping contracts are successful, the project sponsors would file the agreements with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the terms would be released to the public. Until then, any disclosure of any information by any party is voluntary, not mandatory under federal law.

Larry Persily Federal Coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Projects