Pipeline venture files fed application for project

Friday, Nov 21, 2008

A joint pipeline venture featuring oil giants BP PLC and ConocoPhillips turned in a federal right of way application for a 2,000-mile proposed gas line project.

The collaborative effort is called Denali-The Alaska Gas Pipeline LLC and it submitted the application to the Bureau of Land Management last month, but only recently announced the move.

Company spokesman Dave MacDowell said the application is important because nearly one-third of the 730-mile Alaska portion of the pipeline falls under BLM's jurisdiction.

""The BLM can't work on (right of way) issues unless an application is filed, and Denali has now done that,"" MacDowell said. The company wants to build a pipeline that is rooted in the resource-rich North Slope and continues southeast to a hub in Alberta, Canada.It announced its plan in April just weeks before the state Legislature embarked on a plan to ultimately award TransCanada Corp. (nyse: TRP - news - people ) an exclusive license for a similar project. Federal regulators have said both competing projects are not likely be completed.