Then again, Mr. Stedman said, the producers are looking for firm commitments on future gas tax rates from the state, giving some leverage back to the state and TransCanada.

“How do you get it financed where there’s a return to the investors and the state is treated fairly and compensated for its resources?” Mr. Stedman said.

Two of the three major producers on the North Slope, BP and ConocoPhillips, announced last month that they were moving forward with building a pipeline on their own, and that demand and the high price of natural gas meant they would not need subsidies from the state. They say they have committed to spending $600 million on early development of the pipeline.

“We’re confident we can build this project,” said Steve Rinehart, a spokesman for BP Alaska, which runs Prudhoe Bay, the nation’s largest oil field. “We’re going forward no matter what. We’re interested in what’s being said today, but we’ve already started.”

Ms. Palin said her plan was superior because it included “enforceable commitments” from TransCanada and gas producers that want to use the line, including an ability to expand the line so new companies can use it, at reasonable rates. Mr. Rinehart said the producers were ready to meet those requirements, too, but Ms. Palin said there was no concrete evidence that was true.

With the state’s economy in the balance as oil production declines, the governor said: “We don’t have time to mess around. It is time to get the project built and not just keep guessing what the oil producers want from the state.”