Applications were also received by the state from the Alaska Gasline Port Authority and AEnergy LLC, a newly formed company that state officials said individuals in California recently formed.

ConocoPhillips, which owns gas reserves on the North Slope, also submitted a proposal to Gov. Sarah Palin that was outside the state's AGIA solicitation process. ConocoPhillips' plan is to build a 48-inch pipeline to Alberta with a possible extension to the U.S. Midwest. The pipeline would move 4 billion cubic feet of gas daily, ConocoPhillips said.

The two other major owners of North Slope gas, BP and Exxon Mobil, did not submit proposals.

The Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority submitted a proposal Nov. 29 for a 20-inch spur pipeline that would connect with a large-diameter pipeline built through Interior Alaska to transport gas to Southcentral Alaska and Anchorage.

In briefings after proposals were received, state officials said they were surprised that MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. did not submit a proposal to build the large pipeline after indicating earlier that it planned to do so.

In a letter to Palin, MidAmerican CEO David Sokel cited uncertainties over the legal status of the Point Thomson gas field, which holds 8 trillion cubic feet of the 35 tcf of proven gas reserves identified for the pipeline. The letter also cited cost increases and political uncertainties created by corruption scandals in Alaska as reasons why it changed its mind about submitting a proposal.

Ownership of Point Thomson gas is under a legal cloud because of the state's attempt to take back leases in the undeveloped field, which is 60 miles east of Prudhoe Bay. The dispute, now in the Alaska courts, is over work obligations with major owners Exxon Mobil, BP, and Chevron.

A bid from UK-based BG Group had also been expected by the state. In a letter to Palin, company executive Martin Houston said the Alaska project presented too many economic uncertainties for it to bid.

BG is engaged in exploration for gas on the North Slope, however, in partnership with Anadarko Petroleum and PetroCanada.

China's Sinopec's proposal was a surprise to the state. The state didn't release details on the company, but there is speculation that the group may be interested in a liquefied natural gas project. The Alaskan port authority is believed to be proposing an LNG project in its application.

TransCanada's bid was not a surprise, given its longstanding interest in the project, although last spring the company had expressed concerns over some of the state's requirements.

TransCanada vice president Tony Palmer said Nov. 30 that its proposal was being done jointly with subsidiary Foothills Pipe Lines. TransCanada's plan would be for it to build and own the Alaska portion of the pipeline and for Foothills to build segments through Canada, Palmer said.

Palmer would give no more details of the proposal. The company has previously proposed a 48-inch pipeline built from the North Slope to link with its existing gas transmission system in Alberta.

Alaska Revenue Commissioner Pat Galvin and Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin received the proposals Nov. 30, but would not release details on any of them until a determination is made whether they are in compliance with the state's request for proposal.

Proposals in compliance will be released to the public for a 60-day review, after which the state would select one proposal that would be submitted to the Legislature for approval.

AGIA, the state law establishing the solicitation process, offers a state license granting certain types of exclusive rights, including $500 million in state grants to help finance front-end engineering, environmental studies and the costs of regulatory applications.

Any gas committed to a licensed project would also be eligible for a negotiated reduction in state gas production taxes for 10 years under the AGIA statute.

The producing companies, including ConocoPhillips, have said they need stronger fiscal terms than what is provided in AGIA. The producers also object to other requirements in AGIA, particularly a requirement that the licensed pipeline company support rolled-in tariffs for all expansion, which the producers say would subject initial shippers to subsidizing the transportation of new gas in possible violation of federal law.

BP told legislators in hearings last spring that legislation passed by Congress in 2004 on the Alaska pipeline prohibits tariffs that force one shipper to subsidize another through rolled-in tariffs that pay for an expansion.

In 2006 the three North Slope producers jointly proposed a 52-inch pipeline built from the North Slope that would have transported 4.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. An agreement was reached with then-Gov. Frank Murkowski on a deal that would have included the state as a 20 percent partner.

The Legislature failed to approve Murkowski's deal with the three companies, however. Palin defeated Murkowski in the August 2006 Alaska elections, however, and abandoned the agreement that had been made on the gas project.