Alaska will be urging the oil and gas industry to invest in its large pool of natural gas, in spite of the downturn, to push forward a long-held plan for a $30bn pipeline to carry the energy to the rest of the US.

Next year the two companies proposing to build pipelines out of Alaska, TransCanada and Denali – a company owned by BP and ConocoPhillips – will open bidding to secure customer commitments to use their competing pipeline projects.