Alaska LNG Project receives federal regulatory approval

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a decision authorizing construction of the Alaska LNG Project, concluding an environmental impact statement process of more than three years.

The commission announced Thursday it approved the state’s plans for the estimated $43 billion pipeline project that will move large volumes of North Slope liquefied natural gas, The Alaska Journal of Commerce reported.

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation submitted an application for the massive project in April 2017.

“As anybody in the infrastructure development process knows, to go through the (National Environmental Policy Act) process in three years is an exceptionally fast time,” said Frank Richards, president of the state of Alaska public corporation.

Oil producers Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips Co. and BP PLC and the state spent more than $600 million on work to achieve the approval, with a state share of about $240 million.

The project includes a gas treatment plant, an 807-mile (1,299-kilometre) buried pipeline from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula and a liquefaction plant at Nikiski capable of producing up to 20 million metric tons (22 million tons) of liquefied natural gas per year for export to Asian markets.

The project could generate around 18,000 jobs during construction and about 1,000 new jobs during its 30-year operational life, according to estimates by the gasline development corporation and the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

The project would also provide natural gas to the Fairbanks area and other communities along the pipeline route that currently rely on fuel oil for heating and some power generation.

Re;publican Gov. Mike Dunleavy said an ongoing economic review will help determine the project’s future development.

The Associated Press