President Trump touted his administration’s work on a proposed Alaska pipeline needed for a long-stalled $44 billion project to transport natural gas across the state and export it overseas. The 810-mile natural gas pipeline would be among the largest in the world, and Japan, South Korea and other nations want to partner with the United States, investing trillions of dollars each in future purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Alaska facility. Interested countries also include Taiwan and the Philippines. The project would provide a shorter shipping distance to Asia than the U.S. Gulf Coast and avoid the Panama Canal, which was under a drought in 2023, causing severe bottlenecks. Asian allies are looking for ways to avoid Trump’s threat of tariffs by balancing trade flows.
The project would also open new markets for massive gas reserves (about 35 trillion cubic feet) stranded on Alaska’s North Slope. And, in the short term, Alaska could import LNG, offsetting declining production in the Cook Inlet, Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin, dating to the 1950s. The project is backed by a state agency, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, and privately owned Glenfarne, a company proposing to build two LNG plants in the United States. The pipeline would provide thousands of jobs during the construction phase. Its federal permits and export authority are already in place, receiving the last of them during President Trump’s first administration. The pipeline would be large in diameter at 42 inches and is expected to cost $11 billion. The project has a gas sales precedent agreement with Great Bear Pantheon, an Alaska-based oil exploration company, to buy up to 500 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The pipeline would carry gas from the North Slope to south-central Alaska where a liquefaction facility in Nikiski, southwest of Anchorage, would process and export the LNG. Currently, there is no way to bring Alaska’s enormous gas reserves to market as the focus by major companies on the North Slope has been on producing oil and the state has the 800-mile Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) that brings the oil to market, which began operating in 1977. Gas that is currently produced with oil is reinjected into the fields. The pipeline would almost follow the same route as the oil pipeline until towards the south it would veer west of Anchorage, rather than east as the oil pipeline does.
Trump said his administration would ensure the project gets built “to provide affordable energy to Alaska and allies all over the world.” He highlighted it as a priority in an Alaska-specific executive order aimed at spurring resource development that he signed on his first day in office and brought it up again at his state-of-the-union address to Congress.
The project faces hurdles that include its estimated cost of $44 billion for the pipeline and related infrastructure, competition from other projects, and questions about its economic feasibility. Alaska has invested about $1 billion into trying to get a pipeline built.
Asia is open to importing LNG as long as the price is reasonable. Other major LNG exporters to Asia include Qatar and Australia. Natural gas currently supplies 25% of global primary energy and was the fastest-growing energy source over the last 15 years.
Europe
Europe has been a major importer of U.S. LNG since Russia invaded Ukraine and Russian gas pipeline supplies were cut. Last year, Europe purchased 55% of total U.S. exports of LNG, compared to 34% for Asia, and most of the remainder was imported by Latin American countries. Due to cold weather in January, Europe purchased 86% of U.S. LNG exports as its gas storage was depleted. At one point, traders even began diverting cargoes from Asia to Europe because European demand was soaring and prices were escalating. Europe’s gas in storage level is currently at 40%, which is much lower than it was in the last two years at this time. European LNG demand will likely remain high as Europe replenishes its storage levels, curbing demand from Asia. Like Asia, Europe has other sources of LNG besides the United States, including Russia, from which it imports LNG despite its invasion of Ukraine.
Conclusion
Foreign support will be key in overcoming the high costs and logistical challenges facing Alaska’s LNG and natural gas pipeline project. Asian allies are showing interest because they want to avoid President Trump’s threatened tariffs as the President tries to balance trade flows. The pipeline and the LNG facility will benefit Asian LNG purchasers due to a shorter shipping distance to Asia than from the U.S. Gulf Coast and by avoiding transit through the Panama Canal. Similar to the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, the natural gas pipeline would be an 800-mile mammoth project that will cross the state, getting stranded gas assets from the North Slope to market.
