With growing interest, the Alaska LNG Project is moving forward
ANCHORAGE—President Xi Jinping of China met with officials in Alaska about bringing liquefied natural gas to the Asian continent. So did U.S. Vice President Michael Pence, as the state pursues plans to build a $45 billion LNG plant on the Kenai Peninsula.
The state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. took over the lead in the monumental project from an earlier partnership and has been actively seeking investors and customers. In April, the state filed a 50,000-page application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for permission to build the ambitious project. It would bring natural gas from a treatment plant in Prudhoe Bay in the north through an 800-mile pipeline to a liquefaction plant and export terminal in Nikiski.
AGDC President Keith Myers told American Gas that the project is important to the U.S. economy and to Asian trade. “The Alaska LNG project is important to American economic security as the U.S. becomes a major energy exporter,” he said. “Alaska LNG is positioned to help stabilize global energy security and provide positive American trade flows in the Asian Pacific for many decades to come.”
Xi met with Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and state officials in April to talk about the LNG project and other commercial ties. Xi has since asked state officials to follow up with China’s major gas buyers. Pence met with Walker and Meyer a week later to discuss the LNG plant.
Meyer said the project is garnering interest from a number of investors. In March, AGDC hosted 21 potential investors from 14 countries.
In addition to its application with FERC, state officials have submitted applications with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Meyer called the applications a major milestone.
AGDC has asked FERC to publish a draft environmental impact assessment within the next year and a final environmental impact statement six months after that. If approved, construction would take place from 2019 to 2022, with cargoes starting to ship between 2023 and 2025.
“Alaska offers LNG buyers in the Asia-Pacific region a number of distinct advantages, including lower shipping costs due to close proximity and country-to-country direct transport with no physical constriction points; proven natural gas resources of 35 trillion cubic feet ... a known and stable regulatory and government process; and a cold climate, which increases LNG production efficiency,” Meyer said.