The Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the US Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy have signed an agreement to work together - and with potential investors - to study unconventional energy resources and potential LNG feed-gas in Alaska's Arctic.
The memorandum of understanding was signed in Houston by DNR Commissioner Dan Sullivan and DOE Acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Christopher Smith. This week, Sullivan and Smith are delivering speeches in Houston at LNG 17, the four-day conference attended by more than 5, 000 delegates.
"This is a clear example of how the state and the federal government can work together on energy issues that will play a critical role in Alaska's future," said Commissioner Sullivan.
"As a state, we want to responsibly develop and commercialize all of the North Slope's energy resources, which include gas hydrates, shale and viscous oil, and other unconventional energy resources.
"Simultaneously, the Department of Energy is strongly interested in demonstrating that these resources can be developed on an economic scale," Sullivan said.
"Forming good working relationships with state and local partners is critical to the Energy Department's efforts to responsibly and sustainably develop all of America's rich energy resources," Acting Assistant Secretary Smith said.
By establishing a framework for our continued work with the State of Alaska, we will advance America's energy development and research, including our understanding of methane hydrates - a vast, untapped potential energy resource.
And this agreement will help ensure Alaska continues to play a critical role in supplying America's and the world's energy needs," Smith said.
It was the DoE that got behind shale-gas technology such as hydraulic fracturing that unleashed the boom in gas for LNG exports.
In signing the MOU, DNR commits to helping DOE with its ongoing assessment of unconventional energy resources and DOE's field evaluation of potential unconventional energy production technologies on the North Slope, from where feed-gas will serve a huge LNG project backed by the oil majors.
