Alaska LNG Project Advances with $44 Billion Deal

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) has entered into an exclusive agreement with Houston-based developer Glenfarne Energy Transition to advance the long-stalled Alaska LNG project, officials announced Friday. The $44 billion project aims to deliver natural gas by 2031, with LNG exports following shortly thereafter.

The project includes an 807-mile pipeline, an LNG export facility in Nikiski, and an Arctic Carbon Capture plant on the North Slope. The pipeline will transport up to 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas daily from the North Slope to communities across Alaska and an export terminal south of Anchorage.

Glenfarne will lead and fund the development, leveraging its experience in energy infrastructure. The company has also partnered with Enstar Natural Gas, Alaska’s largest utility, to explore LNG imports as a bridge solution for Southcentral Alaska’s looming gas shortage.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, once skeptical of the project, expressed strong support at a press conference in Anchorage. “We pioneered LNG exports for North America in 1969, and the goal is to do the same again using North Slope gas,” he said, referencing the Kenai LNG terminal that operated until 2011.

The project, first approved under the Trump administration, received federal regulatory approval in 2020 and final legal clearance in 2022. Despite opposition from environmental groups, AGDC expects a final investment decision in 2025, with construction potentially starting soon after.

Glenfarne’s involvement brings credibility, according to industry sources. “They’re absolutely qualified to take on a project of that nature,” said one source, though the company has yet to complete two other U.S. LNG projects in Texas and Louisiana.

AGDC board member Doug Tansy emphasized the dual focus on imports and exports. “We do not face a choice between imports and a pipeline—we need both,” he wrote in a recent op-ed, highlighting the project’s potential to address both local and global energy needs.