ANCHORAGE (Alaska), Jan 5: A major Canadian oil and gas company has beat out four competitors in a bid to build a natural gas pipeline out of Alaska that would supply energy to millions of consumers throughout North America, state officials announced.

TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC/Foothills Pipelines, is the only company to meet a long list of business terms set forth by the state, which is moving aggressively to bring its natural gas to market as energy prices continue to rise.

“We have long stated that it only takes one good application. We’re thrilled to have a project sponsor willing to build a pipeline on terms that benefit all Alaskans,” Gov. Sarah Palin said at a news conference.

TransCanada is proposing to root the gas line in Arctic oil fields on Alaska’s North Slope, the bedrock for the state’s robust oil industry since the 1970s. From there, natural gas would flow 1,715 miles southeast to a pipeline hub in Calgary, Alberta, that connects to all the major markets on the continent.

About 35 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves are believed to lie beneath the North Slope permafrost, and energy analysts believe that figure will rise in the future.

At a projected cost of $26 billion, the proposal could become the largest, most expensive energy facility ever constructed, or simply the largest private-sector project ever undertaken, in North America.

TransCanada owns one of the largest natural gas pipeline networks in the world, tallying 36,500 miles of pipe that ferries nearly 30 billion cubic feet of gas each day. —AP