16 ALASKA RESOURCE REVIEW SPRING 2025 Private group to manage Alaska LNG Project under new contract BY TIM BRADNER ALASKA’S STATE GAS CORPORATION, ALASKA GASLINE DEVELOPMENT CORP. (AGDC), SIGNED A CONTRACT MARCH 27 WITH GLENFARNE GROUP INC. TO BE PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE $40 BILLION-PLUS ALASKA LNG PROJECT. The deal calls for Glenfarne to own 75% of 8 Star Alaska, an AGDC subsidiary that will manage project development. That will include attracting investors and customers for the liquefied natural gas project. Glenfarne’s first task is to undertake $150 million in Front End Engineering and Design work (FEED) to update a “pre-FEED” done in 2016 by an industry consortium led by ExxonMobil. Part of the FEED will involve a cost estimated at $42 billion. Glenfarne also will work to attract investors for an initial phase one, the 800-mile 42-inch gas pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska that will serve communities in Interior and Southcentral Alaska. Subsequent phases of the project involve a large LNG plant on the Kenai Peninsula that will export liquefied gas to Asia and a large North Slope gas treatment plant that will remove carbon dioxide from produced gas and inject the CO2 underground. Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval said at a March 27 news conference he is confident private equity investments can be raised for the 800-mile pipeline segment, which is treated as a distinct project, even before the complete project, including the LNG plant is underway. Duval said the FEED study can be done by fall and that a final investment decision for the phase one pipeline can come by the end of the year after investors sign on. Despite this optimism, there are uncertainties, mainly on the updated cost. Prices for steel and other materials will have changed and there will be effects caused by President Donald Trump’s new tariff policies, although Trump is a big supporter of the Alaska LNG Project. However, if the pipeline segment can be financed, and construction started, getting investments in the two remaining parts, the LNG and gas plants, is expected to be easier. For example, once the pipeline — the single most expensive part of the project — is underway, the LNG plant can be built in increments so that exports of LNG can ramp up as the market is able to absorb them. A key challenge for the original Alaska LNG plan is that it would produce and export 20 million tons of LNG from the start, which would be difficult for Asian markets to absorb. Under the agreement signed March 27, AGDC is divesting 75% of 8 Star Alaska, a subsidiary AGDC created to hold and manage all Alaska LNG project assets, to Glenfarne. Glenfarne assumes the role of Alaska LNG’s lead developer and will lead all remaining development work of the project. AGDC remains a 25% owner of 8 Star Alaska and a partner to Glenfarne Alaska LNG is now organized as three sub-projects: the 807-mile, 42-inch pipeline; the large LNG export terminal in Nikiski, on the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage; and a North Slope-based gas treatment plant that will be able to inject and store 7 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. “In light of steadily declining gas production from Cook Inlet, which has historically been Alaska’s primary instate natural gas basin, phase one of the project will kick off immediately, prioritizing the development and final investment decision of the pipeline infrastructure needed to deliver North Slope gas to Alaskans as rapidly as possible,” AGDC said in a statement. “Following a successful final investment decision, the State of Alaska will retain a 25% share in 8 Star Alaska and have the option to invest up to 25% in AGDC SIGNS DEAL WITH GLENFARNE ON LNG Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval said at a March 27 news conference he is confident private equity investments can be raised for the 800-mile pipeline segment, which is treated as a distinct project, even before the complete project, including the LNG plant is underway. Duval said the FEED study can be done by fall and that a final investment decision for the phase one pipeline can come by the end of the year after investors sign on.
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