JUNEAU, April 21 (Reuters) - Alaska's legislature on Mondayapproved Governor Sean Parnell's plan to join four energycompanies in moving ahead on plans to build infrastructure totransport and market 35 trillion cubic feet of North Slope gasto be shipped by an 800-mile pipeline to a liquefied natural gas(LNG) export plant.
The project is valued at between $45 billion and $65 billionfor the line and gas treatment facilities. Should it come tofruition, gas could hit local and foreign markets in themid-2020s, according to the state's projections.
Companies are increasingly seeking to ship LNG from growingU.S. gas reserves to Asia and Europe, where demand is surging.Companies have complained about red tape in seeking federalapproval for U.S. facilities to export LNG.
Alaska has a history of exporting LNG dating back to the1960s, but from basins in Cook Inlet south of Anchorage.
Lawmakers passed legislation proposed by the governor,authorizing him to work with North Slope leaseholders ExxonMobil Corp, BP Plc, ConocoPhillips andpipeline company TransCanada Corp in drafting a projectdevelopment contract.
By the end of 2015, the governor is expected to come back tothe legislature to ratify a contract. Meanwhile, project teamswill begin front-end engineering and design work.
"Alaskans have waited a long time for a gas line, and forthe first time in our history, we have alignment, authorizationfrom the legislature, and a clear path forward," Parnell said ina statement. "The Alaska LNG Project has begun."
Previous efforts by Parnell's two predecessors failed. Likemany of his colleagues who served under those administrations,House Finance Co-Chair Bill Stoltze, a Republican from Chugiak,Alaska, was cautious.
"I have the same mix of skepticism," Stoltze said. "This iswhat iteration of efforts? There is probably more promise thanhope. I will not say stars aligned, but there are less things tostop this than things in the past."
Officials said more work was in store.
"This is giving us permission to do a lot more work. As wedo that work, we'll get a better sense of whether or not thisproject is a contender," Natural Resources Commissioner JoeBalash said. (Reporting By Steve Quinn; Editing by Terry Wade and DavidGregorio)