Business in brief: Exxon will join pipeline project

Anchorage, Alaska – Exxon Mobil will partner with TransCanada to advance a massive pipeline capable of bringing natural gas from Alaska to the lower 48 states, the companies said Thursday.

“TransCanada and Exxon Mobil will jointly advance all aspects of the project – technical, commercial, regulatory and commercial,” said Tony Palmer, TransCanada vice president of Alaska development.

TransCanada last year was awarded an exclusive state license sanctioning a pipeline with up to $500 million in incentives. The inclusion of Exxon gives TransCanada a partner with technical expertise and financial muscle.

Industry dealing with loud ads

Washington – Lawmakers stepped aside Thursday and agreed to let broadcasters come up with a system for toning down loud TV ads.

However, they warned that if the broadcasters don’t cooperate, they’d reintroduce a bill next year to make the Federal Communications Commission turn down the volume on loud commercials.

Industry leaders said they’d reach an agreement by September on what David Donovan, president of the Association for Maximum Service Television, called “recommended practice” for the sound levels of shows and ads.

Boeing lowers market forecast

Seattle – Boeing Co. has lowered its 20-year forecast for the commercial airplane market for the first time in at least a decade, citing the global recession, declining passenger and cargo traffic, and unpredictable fuel prices.

The world’s second-largest airplane maker said Thursday it expects a market for 29,000 new passenger and cargo jets valued at $3.2 trillion over the next two decades. That’s down 1.4 percent from a forecast last year of 29,400 planes, also valued at $3.2 trillion. The dollar value is unchanged because of anticipated price inflation.

Europe to get its own Windows

Seattle – Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it will make a separate version of the Windows 7 computer operating software for Europe that does not include its Internet Explorer Web browser, as it tries to head off another antitrust scuffle with regulators there.

The EU ordered Microsoft to separate the Web surfing software from its PC operating system. The preliminary decision came after a yearlong investigation into complaints from a rival browser maker, Norway’s Opera Software ASA, which said Microsoft’s practices amounted to an unfair distribution advantage.