Alaska seeks to build long sought natural gas pipeline

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a new attempt at advancing the struggling Alaska LNG project by constructing a natural gas pipeline that would carry gas to Fairbanks from the North Slope's gas fields. 

A local news source said Dunleavy detailed the plan in an opinion article, noting the project relies on a private partner and federal dollars. The North Slope's gas fields are considered "stranded" as no gas line has ever been built to export the gas and the gas has never been produced for sale, despite efforts dating back to the 1970s. 

Alaska wants to start on the first phase of the state’s LNG export plant and pipeline project by approving a plan to work with a private firm, which would potentially take the project over from the state.

The proposed $5.9 billion gas pipe would run roughly 500 miles (805 kilometers) from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks and could start delivering gas into central Alaska in 2025, according to a report Frank Richards, president of the Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), presented to the board on Thursday.

The report, which was supported by the board, said the companies would seek federal stimulus or infrastructure funding to help cover the cost of the first phase and attract outside investment.

The total $38.7 billion project includes an 807-mile (1,300-km) pipeline with the capacity to transport about 3.3 billion cubic feet per day from the North Slope to a liquefaction plant in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula.

The LNG export plant and pipeline project have been talked about for a long time. Alaska signed an agreement with major oil and gas companies to build the project in 2014, but the state ended up taking over the project in 2016 after the North Slope oil companies backed out.

BP and Exxon produce massive amounts of oil in Alaska and have discovered huge gas resources that are stranded in the North Slope. Alaska LNG would allow that gas to access markets around the world.

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