Conocoand Philips to Merge
 http://www.msnbc.com/news/659679.asp 
 
Note that Philips had acquired major Alaskan oil and gas assets from Arco when the latter was acquired by BP, and Conocorecently bought Gulf Canada, which had substantial assets in the Mackenzie Delta.  The new company will thus have major interests in both areas.  This merger may have a negative impact on the chances for the Alaskan highway route and favor the Mackenzie Delta route plus some crossover route from the North Slopeto the Delta.  On the other hand, ?.
 
Energy Firms Agree to Support the Alaskan HighwayRoute
 
Foothills Pipe Lines announced a Memorandum of Understanding between nine USand Canadian energy transportation and marketing companies in favor of the Alaskan Natural Gas Transportation System to bring Alaskan gas to southern markets by 2008.  In addition to Foothills, signatories include Duke Energy Gas Transmission, El Paso Corporation, Enron Transportation Services, PG&E Corporation, SempraEnergy International, TransCanadaPipeLinesLimited, WestcoastEnergy Inc, and Williams Gas Pipeline.  The text of the MOU can be viewed at http://www.foothillspipe.com/byteserver.cgi/pdf/Nov15-MOU.pdf .
 
Bob Brooks
GPCM Natural Gas Market Forecasting Systemhttp://gpcm.rbac.com