(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the state grants a licensee assurances that the licensee has exclusive enjoyment of the inducements provided under this chapter before the commencement of commercial operations. If, before the commencement of commercial operations, the state extends to another person preferential royalty or tax treatment or grant of state money for the purpose of facilitating the construction of a competing natural gas pipeline project in this state, and if the licensee is in compliance with the requirements of the license and with the requirements of state and federal statutes and regulations relevant to the project, the licensee is entitled to payment from the state of an amount equal to three times the total amount of the expenditures incurred and paid by the licensee that are qualified expenditures for the purposes of AS 43.90.110 that the licensee incurred in developing the licensee's project before the date that the state first extended preferential treatment to another person. The payment under this subsection is subject to appropriation. Upon payment by the state of the amount owed under this section, the licensee shall, at no additional cost to the state, assign to the state or the state's designee all engineering designs, contracts, permits, and other data related to the project that were acquired by the licensee during the term of the license. The payment under this subsection is in full satisfaction of all claims the licensee may bring in contract, tort, or other law related to the events that gave rise to the payment.

(b) The review, processing, or facilitation of a permit, right-of-way, or authorization by a state agency in connection with a competing natural gas pipeline project does not create an obligation on the part of the state under this section.

(c) In this section,

(1) “competing natural gas pipeline project” means a project designed to accommodate throughput of more than 500,000,000 cubic feet a day of North Slope gas to market;

(2) “preferential royalty or tax treatment” does not include

(A) the state's exercise of its right to resolve disputes involving royalties and taxes; or

(B) the state's exercise of its right to modify royalties as authorized by law in effect on June 8, 2007.