US Senator says Alaska suit more proof of oil industry misdeeds

Washington (Platts)--21Dec2005

US Sen Maria Cantwell (Democrat-Washington), a member of both the Senate
Commerce and Energy Committees, has weighed in on the lawsuit that an Alaskan 
state authority filed against oil majors BP and Exxon Monday and accused 
producers of holding up bonuses for US troops.

     "The Alaska Gasline Port Authority antitrust suit raises real concerns
that something is being done by the oil and gas industry to artificially
suppress supply and raise the price of fuels," said Cantwell. 

     "The Senate is currently debating giving these same oil companies
unfettered access to additional oil fields in Alaska--oil fields located in
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Holding up critical funding for our
troops to give Christmas bonuses that oil companies accused of manipulating
prices to hurt Americans at the gas pump is ludicrous," she added.     

     Congressional supporters of opening ANWR to oil and gas development
attached the language to the fiscal year 2006 defense appropriations bill.
Senate opponents have threatened to conduct a filibuster to block the language
from being enacted.

     "For months I have been demanding a formal investigation into price
gouging. The fact that we are considering a giveaway on the floor of the
Senate to these same oil companies accused of making America's energy price
situation worse is obscene. The Alaska suit makes it clearer than ever that
these company executives must come before Congress to explain their pricing
practices," the senator said.

     On Monday, the AGPA, which is hoping to develop a liquefied natural gas 
terminal and pipeline filed suit against ExxonMobil and BP, accusing them of
engaging in anticompetitive behavior by refusing to sell their North Slope
gas.

     Attorneys for the Alaska Gasline Port Authority, a municipal group
created by the state Legislature in 1999, argued that ExxonMobil and BP have
engaged in a variety of means to eliminate competition and block the marketing
of an estimated 35 Tcf of gas.

     The port authority has proposed building an 800-mile pipeline from the
North Slope to Valdez, Alaska, where gas will be liquefied and shipped to West
Coast markets.

     "Their concerted refusal to market this gas results in higher gas prices
that hurt consumers and businesses throughout Alaska and the rest of the US.
This cannot be allowed to continue," said David Boies, the authority's lead
attorney who filed the action late Monday with the US District Court in
Fairbanks, Alaska.

     Cantwell and six other senators have already asked US Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales to investigate whether the testimony provided by oil
executives at a Nov 9 hearing violated the Federal "False Statements" statute.

     For more information, take a trial to Platts LNG Daily at
http://www.LNGdaily.platts.com.

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