The governor and administration don’t believe a constitutional amendment to commit to the Alaska LNG project will be on this fall’s ballot but project partners say pre-FEED work is continuing as normal.
Gov. Walker: “I’m confident there will be a continued momentum, I’m confident that we’ll continue to work together in some fashion to be able to advance a project on the schedule that it’s on right now.”
In a press conference with BP, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil executives Wednesday morning, Governor Bill Walker said the biggest threat to the project now is low oil prices.
No one expressed any concerns about delaying the vote on a constitutional amendment to give producers the locked-in tax rates they want. Walker says it is still possible for the issue to make a 2016 ballot.
Gov. Walker: “It’s still a possibility, I’m not ruling that out. I’m not saying it can’t be done on this election cycle. We’ve got a lot on our plate in Juneau, the legislature has a full plate in Juneau on the fiscal issues so I’m not ruling anything out at this point.”
The governor stated that there are “potential changes” that could come from the delay, but said it is too early to talk about the specifics of those. He says it is also too soon to know if any additional partners might be added to the project.