Alaska rejected Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $1.3 billion plan for a North Slope natural-gas project, saying it couldn't trust the company to develop a field that holds enough gas to meet almost two years of U.S. residential demand.
The proposal to begin production of reserves that have lain dormant since their discovery in the 1970s isn't in the "best interests" of the state, Alaska Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin said today in an e-mailed statement. The plan would have involved assessment and design work at the Point Thomson field without any actual commitment to pump gas, he said.
"I could not risk further delay in development of these valuable resources," Irwin said in the statement. "In light of the history of this unit, I did not trust the appellant's commitment to follow through."
Irving-based Exxon Mobil, the world's largest energy company, submitted the plan in February after Gov. Sarah Palin's administration moved to evict the company and its partners from the field 50 miles east of Prudhoe Bay because of decades of inaction.
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