04/10/1996 03:52 PM Senate RES

                                                                               
   CSHJR 54(RES) am FAVOR TRANS-ALASKA GAS SYSTEM & LNG SALES                 
  SENATOR LEMAN announced  CSHJR 54(RES)  to be up for discussion.            
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE GENE KUBINA, sponsor, said a lot of people have had            
 input into the writing of this bill and do not oppose it.  It                 
 requests all the lessees to intensify their efforts to get a                  
 contractual relationship to market our huge quantities of natural             
 gas to the Asian market.  It asks the President of the United                 
 States to demonstrate national support and to basically "plug it"             
 with our Asian trading partners.  It asks the Governor to assure              
 the buyers that the State will provide continuity in regards to its           
 supply, tax structure, and regulatory policy.  It encourages                  
 private developers to use the State's labor force and have an                 
 Alaskan hire agreement for any project that would market it.                  
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE KUBINA said there was a very good article from the             
 Ketchikan Daily News by Lew Williams which very accurately spells             
 out the issues that need to be addressed.  It says the problem is             
 not necessarily the price and that there's not a market, but that             
 it is the internal structure we have and the way the North Slope              
 companies work with gas.                                                      
                                                                               
 Number 456                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR TAYLOR moved to adopt SCS CSHJR 54(RES) and asked                     
 unanimous consent.  There were no objections and it was so ordered.           
                                                                               
 MR. WAYNE LEWIS, Manager, External Affairs, Yukon Pacific Corp.               
 urged them to unanimously pass HJR 54.  This resolution represents            
 a significant advancement in the evolution of the TAGS project                
 which is so important to Alaskans, he said.  It also sends a clear            
 message to our Asian markets and competitors in the Middle East and           
 on the Pacific Rim that Alaska recognizes our gas resource                    
 potential and we understand the need to forge a unified project               
 scheme.                                                                       
                                                                               
 MR. LEWIS said the problem isn't that Alaska isn't competitive, but           
 that it's not competing.                                                      
                                                                               
 MR. JEFF LOWENFELS, President and CEO, stressed that the problem we           
 have is that we are not alone in this race.  Last week they had a             
 visit from the Japanese National Oil Company who wanted our gas.              
 They brought an attorney who represented six utilities in Japan.              
 He said this is a project they are ready to build.  They can do it            
 with producer help or they can do it simply with the gas the                  
 producers have an obligation to produce.  Either way, Yukon Pacific           
 and CSX are committed to move this project forward, he said.  They            
 are committed to a project labor agreement.                                   
                                                                               
 MAYOR DENNIS EAGAN, City and Borough of Juneau, said even though we           
 the people of Juneau don't benefit directly, they would surely                
 benefit from the wealth to the State treasury to be brought in by             
 revenues from a trans Alaska gas line.  He said the Assembly had              
 passed Resolution 1806 in support of HJR 54.  The Municipal League            
 and the Alaska Congress of Mayors unanimously support this                    
 legislation also.                                                             
                                                                               
 JERRY HOOD, Vice-President, Alaska AFL/CIO, said they emphatically            
 support this legislation.  He said one of the things that concerns            
 them most is Alaskan hire and they will discuss a project labor               
 agreement for the Yukon Pacific gas line project as soon as the               
 State has time to negotiate with them.  They will discuss a plan of           
 action where residents in rural Alaska and Alaska natives will not            
 be excluded from job opportunities on the project.                            
                                                                               
 SENATOR LEMAN asked if there was anyone opposed to this resolution            
 and there were no indications.                                                
                                                                               
 Number 575                                                                    
                                                                               
 SENATOR PEARCE moved to pass SCS CSHJR 54 (RES) out of committee              
 with individual recommendations and the appropriate fiscal note.              
 There were no objections and it was so ordered.