Glenfarne records $115bn of partner interest in Alaska LNG

Glenfarne Alaska LNG has reported $115bn-worth of “strategic partner interest” in the Alaska LNG project.

More than 50 companies from the US, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, India, and the EU have expressed interest in the major infrastructure project since the contract selection process was launched in early May.

Contracts up for grabs include equipment and material supply, services, investment, and customer agreements.

The ambitious project consists of an 807-mile, 42-inch pipeline capable of transporting enough natural gas to meet both Alaska’s domestic needs and to supply the 20 million tonnes a year Alaska LNG export facility.

Brendan Duval, CEO and Founder of Glenfarne, said, “The many expressions of interest received reinforce that the market recognises Alaska LNG’s advantaged economics, fully permitted status, and powerful federal, state, and local support.

“The reality is being understood that the energy crisis in Southcentral Alaska can only be solved, in the long term, by the domestic portion of the pipeline, which is independently financially viable.”

Alaska LNG claims its economic fundamentals allow it to deliver LNG into Asia at prices that are lower than Henry Hub benchmark pricing from the US Gulf Coast.

The pipeline will be built in two independent phases. Phase one will deliver natural gas approximately 765 miles from North Slope to the Anchorage region.

Phase two adds compression equipment and approximately 42 miles of pipeline under the Cook Inlet to the Alaska LNG Export Facility in Nikiski, which will be constructed concurrently with the LNG export facility.

Glenfarne anticipates a final investment decision on the domestic portion of the Alaska LNG pipeline before the end of this year. It recently announced a partnership with Worley to complete the final engineering for the pipeline portion of the project.

Friends of the Earth warns the budget for the $43.8bn project “will likely rise” amid rising costs for aluminium and steel. Today new US tariffs for both products swing into effect.

It claims the Trump Administration is using LNG exports as a ‘weapon’ in their trade war against Asia Pacific countries, who are being pressured to reduce trade deficits with the US by committing to finance Alaska LNG. Taiwan is considering tripling US LNG imports to avoid tariffs.

“The data speaks for itself: there’s no case for Alaska LNG that would benefit investors, consumers or the climate,” said Raena Garcia, Senior Energy Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, “It’s an extremely expensive project that will lock in decades of emissions … Alaska LNG is far from ‘America First’.”