Exxon's in charge????? I feel dirty...

...and used...and duped...


...by our "buddy," Hal Kvisle.

VANCOUVER — TransCanada Corp. has won support from Alaska to build a $26-billion natural gas pipeline, but ground won't be broken until Exxon Mobil Corp. signs on, says TransCanada chief executive officer Hal Kvisle.

Calgary-based TransCanada, which secured Alaska's official backing Friday, is in competition with BP PLC and ConocoPhillips Co. to build a pipeline that would connect large untapped gas reserves on the north slope of the state to consumers in the continental United States.

But Exxon, the company that controls the most gas in Alaska, hasn't yet backed either of the competing proposals, though it has an active Alaska team monitoring the pipeline race.

"Nothing goes ahead until Exxon is happy with it," Mr. Kvisle said in an interview yesterday.

So, we'll be waiting until all of their other pipelines are done, until about 2015 and it will depend upon the say-so of Exxon, the company that's fighting in court NOT TO PAY INTEREST on the money they've owed Alaskan fisherfolk for over 15 years.

Didn't Wally Hickel warn us?

***UPDATE***

Alaska House Speaker John Harris (R-Valdez) springs into action and launched THIS LETTER asking for clarification.

In it, he also reminded Kvisle that they haven't agreed to the $500 million dollar "inducement".

***UPDATE 2***

Per Andrew Halcro's Blog:

Wasn't being independent of Exxon and other producers the exact reason why we went through this expensive and time consuming exercise called AGIA?

In addition, under AGIA, TransCanada has committed to holding an open season in 2010 to attract gas shipping commitments from the producers. The competing Denali project being managed by BP and ConocoPhillips, has also scheduled an open season for 2010 as well.

However, Kvisle stated that in his interview that it would be unlikely there will be two open seasons conducted.