ANWR COASTAL PLAIN, ALASKA
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and rising costs from Cook Inlet. “We are evaluating alternative paths forward while continuing to advance the commercial, engineering and financing work required to deliver the full Alaska LNG project, including the LNG export terminal. The funda - mental case for Alaska LNG remains strong: Alaska needs a long-term solution to its energy supply chal- lenge, the North Slope has one of the largest natural gas resources in the world, global customers continue to value secure Pacific LNG supply, and the project continues to have strong support from Alaskans and the federal government.” Here’s the background: There are large natural gas resources on the Slope stranded by lack of a way to get it to market, or to Alaska communi - ties. Alaskans and industry have been working on this for decades. There have been 15 major initiatives since 1970 to build a project to move the gas. The key problem this year was to relieve the project of much of burden of the state’s current 20-mill proper- ty tax, which has for years been iden - tified as a barrier to raising financing. Unlike oil projects, natural gas and liquefied gas projects are economi - cally marginal in their early years, so the annual property tax of 2% of the project matters. Tax abatements to help large in - dustrial projects are not new, and in Alaska most of the 15 plans to build a gas project have involved some form of tax changes, and one included a $500 million subsidy. Here are key points agreed to this year by the House and Senate: n The gas project would no lon - ger be subject to the state 20-mill property tax on oil and gas facilities. A new tax based on the volume of gas moved, the “Alternative Volumetric Tax,” or AVT, would be substituted. This would be a substantial reduction of the tax burden for the first 10 years. In 10 years, the AVT would be doubled. In 2060, it would be doubled again, under the latest plan. n The pipeline developer, Glen- farne, would make payments into
ALASKA INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT & EXPORT AUTHORITY
What it looks like to believe in Alaska’s future.
Photo by Max Collingwood Doug Fletcher has more than 30 years of experience leading complex energy and infrastructure projects around the world. He has held senior leadership roles across engineering, procurement and construction, with a track record of delivering large-scale projects safely, on schedule and within budget in some of the most challenging environments globally.
Alaska's North Slope has powered this state for 50 years. The next chapter starts on the Coastal Plain.
a state fund to help municipalities along the pipeline route deal with im - pacts of construction. The state would make grants to local governments to offset costs. n A new fund would be created to help Alaska communities not con - nected with the gas pipeline deal with high fuel oil costs. This would be paid from 20% of natural gas royalty in - come to the state. This kind of fund has long been sought by rural legis- lators. The state’s current Power Cost Equalization fund for rural communi- ties deals with electricity but not fuel oil for heating of homes. n A Project Labor Agreement would be included. The basic frame - work of this had been concluded. This will encourage maximum employ - ment of Alaska workers. n Alaska LNG will sell gas to utilities during a “phase one” (pipe - line only) for no more than $16 per thousand cubic feet, a level prices in Southcentral Alaska are expected to approach soon due to declining Cook Inlet gas reserves. If the full Alaska LNG project is built in its “phase two,” with a large LNG plant on the Kenai Peninsula and exports of liquefied gas, the price of gas to utilities would decline to about $5 per thousand cubic feet, according to estimates. n The Alaska LNG Project would facilitate a spur pipeline to get natural gas to Fairbanks. The cost of the spur would be “rolled into” the overall cost
of moving gas through the pipeline so Interior consumers do not pay the full cost of the spur line by themselves. A spur line is needed because the Alaska LNG pipeline route is west of the In - terior community. An important part of the proper- ty tax change is based on the amount of gas moving and not on an annual property value appraisal, which can vary and is unpredictable. This can become the source of disputes as has happened with Trans-Alaska Pipeline System tax valuations. The annual disputes between the state and TAPS oil pipeline owners are costly and have become a red flag for investors in an economically marginal project like Alaska LNG. The proposed alternative tax would remove the subjectivity of annual as - sessments by basing the tax on some - thing that is measured, the volumes of gas and LNG moving. While pas- sage of HB 381 would assist financing by removing the tax problem, it would not guarantee the project will be built. It would have given Glenfarne a chance to do it, however. This will now be left to the next governor and Legislature, and this likely means a year delay. The good news, however, is that key parts of the deal are agreed. Give legislators and Gov. Mike Dunleavy credit for that.
"Development is not theoretical for Kaktovik. It’s a pathway to self-determination and local jobs, and long-term stability." CHARLES LAMPE, KAKTOVIK IÑUPIAT CORPORATION BOARD MEMBER Resource assessments describe the Coastal Plain as one of the most prospective unexplored onshore regions in North America — between 5.7 billion and nearly 16 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil across 26 identified potential reservoirs. At projected development levels, that translates to roughly $2 billion annually in state revenue supporting Alaska's schools, hospitals, and Permanent Fund. In May 2026, AIDEA's board authorized up to $190 million for a comprehensive low-impact 3D seismic program, permitting, cultural and wildlife studies, and stakeholder engagement on its 365,775 acres of Coastal Plain leases. That's not a hedge. That's a statement about where Alaska's energy future is headed.
5.7B - 16B Barrels technically recoverable
345,413 Acres in AIDEA Coastal Plain leases
26 Large potential reservoirs identified
~$2B Potential annual state revenue
This is what it looks like to believe in Alaska’s future.
AIDEA
— Tim Bradner
aidea.org
Advancing Alaska's economy, workforce, and communities
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THE LINK: The Official Magazine of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance | FALL 2026
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