Meyer: “It is competitive and we’re going to have to fight. We’re going to have to fight, we’re going to have to fight hard, we’re going to have to fight toe to toe and knuckle to knuckle, but I think Alaska has a competitive advantage and can secure enough volume to really anchor this project and really make it a healthy infrastructure project.” A major topic of the forum was the drop in oil prices since 2014 and the impact other industries have seen as jobs and projects have been cut. Alaska Gasline Development Corporation President Keith Meyer gave the noon keynote address, urging listeners to remain optimistic about the AK LNG Project… Meyer: “We’ve got three main focus areas for 2017: we want to keep the regulatory on track, but the big new efforts are commercial and financing. So the commercial is actually selling the services of the system, so that’s transportation/liquefaction services, as well as selling LNG itself to the major buyers in the global LNG arena. And then those commercial agreements underpin the financing. So we’re also talking with large financing institutions that would provide financing for a good, quality LNG and pipeline project that is supported with good, commercial offtake agreements.” Meyer said a major part of his job is to reassure the markets that the project is continuing. He outlined his other priorities… The forum, which is sponsored by the Kenai Peninsula Economic Development District, opened with an address from Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Mike Navarre and a look at current job statistics from state economist Alyssa Rodrigues. Rodrigues told the crowd the Kenai Peninsula lost 550 jobs last year, mostly in oil and gas and related fields… The event was wrapped up by State Senator Peter Micciche, who left for the 30th Alaskan Legislative Session in Juneau early Thursday morning. Micciche discussed the state’s continuing fiscal gap and the steps he hopes to take in the Senate to continue cutting the budget while looking at taxes and some use of the Permanent Fund’s earnings. Micciche told the crowd he didn’t run for office hoping to “be the first guy to touch the PFD” and didn’t anticipate ever being in this position, but said if a change isn’t made this year, the state will have to implement harsh, blunt taxes in the future which could have a much harsher impact on the economy. Rodrigues: “Total number of jobs lost isn’t extremely dramatic, we still have a lot of jobs in the Borough, but I also wanted to show the percent jobs lost, because sometimes when we look at such large numbers, 400 jobs or 500 jobs don’t seem like that much, but on a percent basis, it is still significant, so I just wanted to give those two perspectives of, yes it is significant job loss, it is not a ‘sky is falling’ situation, it’s not like we’ve lost half the jobs or anything like that. It’s almost 2% in 2015 and 0.7% jobs lost in 2016.” FacebookTwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享In previous years, the Industry Outlook Forum has spent significant time forecasting the future, with oil and mining executives laying out their plans for development; this year’s event took a more measured tone, focusing on how industries are dealing with current cuts. Tim Dillon with KPEDD said he’s already considering changes for the future, including moving the forum around various communities, starting with Soldotna in 2018.
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