Trump’s ‘Unleash Alaska’ Initiative Seeks to Revive Stalled LNG Project

January 25, 2025 TruthUSA

A proposed 807-mile pipeline connecting Prudhoe Bay to the planned Kenai terminal aims to enhance exports and provide natural gas to remote communities in Alaska.

President Donald Trump’s package of executive actions for Alaska not only intends to expand fossil fuel development in the region but also emphasizes a stalled liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline and marine terminal project, currently the only approved and permitted initiative along the U.S. West Coast, as crucial to establishing “an energy corridor of critical national importance.”

This comprehensive approach revokes “all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and similar agency actions … issued, promulgated, or adopted between Jan. 20, 2021, and Jan. 20, 2025,” effectively nullifying 70 regulatory actions from the Biden administration concerning Alaska.

The regulatory rollbacks and prioritized focus are set to expedite an unspecified project frequently mentioned during nomination hearings for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright as the “Alaska LNG project.”

This initiative is led by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC), which plans to construct an 807-mile pipeline to transport approximately 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day (Bcf/d) from Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope to Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula, located about 80 miles south of Anchorage by boat via Cook Inlet, or 170 miles by road along Alaska Highway 1.

Established in 2013 by state legislators, AGDC is an independent, state-owned corporation tasked with “developing an Alaska liquefied natural gas project on the state’s behalf.”

The planned pipeline and terminal project was initially presented to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2017 and received authorization to advance in May 2020 under the Trump administration, and it was reauthorized under the Biden administration in 2022.

Despite these authorizations, advocates argue that 70 executive orders from Biden regarding Alaska’s energy development have trapped the LNG project in regulatory limbo.

Trump’s ‘Unleash Alaska’ directive eliminates those regulations and elevates the project to a top priority that should be expedited under his “National Energy Emergency” declaration.

Although there is considerable opposition to expanding oil and gas development in ANWR and NPR, AGDC President Frank Richards stated that the proposed LNG project enjoys “broad support at federal, state, and local levels due to its significant strategic, economic, and environmental advantages,” in a statement from Jan. 20.

AGDC asserts that exporting Alaska LNG primarily to Japan and other Pacific nations could contribute an additional $10 billion annually to U.S. exports, helping to reduce the nation’s trade deficit, while generating up to 10,000 jobs during construction and creating approximately 1,000 permanent operational positions. “Research indicates that every direct job creates a ripple effect in the economy, generating 20 indirect jobs,” they claim.

The pipeline will primarily be underground, except where it crosses water bodies such as Cook Inlet and active fault lines, and will include “multiple interconnection points … for distributing gas within the state” to remote locations for refining, mining, and industrial development, according to AGDC’s project details.

This initiative would significantly benefit isolated communities lacking access to natural gas, including Fairbanks, which “currently lacks a pipeline supply of natural gas, resulting in serious air quality challenges from burning poorer quality fuels, especially in winter months.”

Richards emphasized that the project would deliver “notable strategic, economic, and environmental benefits” for both the nation overall and Alaskans specifically, along with “the potential to eliminate up to 2.3 billion tons of carbon emissions over the lifespan of the project’s 30-year authorization.”

An undated photo showing an oil transit pipeline running across the tundra to a flow station at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope. (Al Grillo, File/AP Photo) — An undated photo showing an oil transit pipeline running across the tundra to a flow station at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska’s North Slope. Al Grillo, File/AP Photo

Only West Coast LNG Terminal

However, the Trump administration’s priority is to get the sole federally permitted LNG export terminal on the U.S. West Coast “providing direct, canal-free shipping via uncontested waters to Asian markets” up and running.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission currently lists seven oceanside terminals in the United States authorized for the storage and shipment of LNG—two each located in Texas and Louisiana, with one each in Maryland, Georgia, and Nikiski.

The existing Nikiski terminal, which has a capacity of 0.2 Bcf/d, was “mothballed” in 2017. ConocoPhillips previously exported a modest quantity of Cook Inlet gas to Asian markets until 2015; however, the lack of pipeline access to North Slope fields made operations unprofitable.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission notes that seven LNG export terminals—four in Texas and three in Louisiana—are currently approved and under construction. An additional 12 terminals have received approval—five in Louisiana, three in Texas, and one each in Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi along with AGDC’s Nikiski terminal—but construction has yet to commence.

All of these projects, with the exception of Nikiski, are located along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and their progress was hindered by the Biden administration’s January 2024 “pause,” which Trump has since lifted with his Jan. 20 “Unleashing American Energy” executive actions package.

AGDC’s plans include a 200-acre gas treatment facility in Prudhoe Bay, which will incorporate a carbon capture element designed to remove carbon dioxide from the gas, “capture” it, and compress it “for re-injection into the Prudhoe Bay reservoirs.”

The Nikiski LNG plant is designed to handle, store, and ship up to 20 million tons of LNG annually from a two-berth marine terminal capable of accommodating Q-Flex LNG carriers, among the largest classes of ships with a cargo capacity of 210,000 cubic meters or 74,160 tons.

The project will necessitate the realignment of a 1.3-mile length of Alaska’s Kenai Spur Highway.

Alaska’s Congressional delegation conveyed to Burgum, Wright, and Environmental Protection Agency Director nominee Lee Zeldin that the “Alaska LNG project” is a top priority during their mid-January nomination hearings.

During his Jan. 15 hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) highlighted that Congress had “approved a loan guarantee for an Alaska gas line,” prompting her to ask Wright if he would support initiatives to “stand up” the project through its regulatory processes.

“It should be an easy answer,” she remarked.

And indeed, it was.

Wright responded, “To expand natural gas production in Alaska and establish the infrastructure to export it globally, considering its proximity to the largest and fastest-growing markets in the world in Asia, I believe it’s a fantastic idea. Excellent for our country and beneficial for Alaska.”

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