Alaska seeks consultant to help promote gas

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska is looking for help in promoting its gas to buyers in Asia.

The state is seeking a consultant to help solicit interest from liquefied natural gas buyers in countries like Japan and South Korea. The administration hopes to build off efforts made by Gov. Sean Parnell, Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan and others, like U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in trying to drum-up interest in Alaska gas. This comes as the North Slope's three major players and TransCanada Corp. continue pursuing a major liquefied natural gas, or LNG, project.

The request for proposals, dated Monday, is seeking someone with experience that includes consulting with foreign and domestic governments and/or major international companies on business trends and practices in Asia, existing contacts with "key decision makers" in Asian companies and government organizations and knowledge of the international LNG market.

Proposals are due Friday. The cost of work is not to exceed $50,000.

Sullivan said Tuesday that Alaska has gone from not being talked about to being "out there," in terms of its gas potential. And he said the state is hoping to keep that momentum going. Both he and deputy Natural Resources commissioner Joe Balash said the state doesn't want to wait for the producers.

"Certainly the companies have an interest in developing Alaska's gas and marketing it, but they also have gas in other places," Balash said. "And so, we want to make sure that we're hearing from people who work for us."

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