A controversial natural gas pipeline is one step closer to being built across the state of Alaska, after the Trump administration wrapped up a more than 10-year permitting process this week, fueling its effort to expand domestic oil and gas development.
The Permitting Council announced on Thursday that it had completed the federal permitting for the Alaska liquefied natural gas project, which is projected to transport roughly 20 million metric tons of natural gas each year.
The project has become central to the Trump administration’s efforts to develop Alaska’s natural gas resources in the state’s North Slope region and increase U.S. energy exports.
The 800-mile pipeline is intended to start in Prudhoe Bay, along the Arctic Ocean, where the existing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, also around 800 miles long, begins. The project will also include the construction of a liquefaction facility to cool and condense the gas for exporting.
“Completing federal permitting for Alaska LNG ahead of schedule shows how the Trump administration is restoring America’s Energy Dominance by cutting unnecessary delays and unleashing our abundant resources,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement.
“This project strengthens U.S. energy security, creates jobs for Alaskans, and reinforces our commitment to a permitting system that works at the speed of American innovation,” Burgum added. “We will continue driving policies that keep energy costs affordable, grow the economy, and put American workers first.”
The permitting process for the LNG pipeline began in February 2014, though movement on many of the documents for necessary permits, including authorization for LNG terminal facilities and the environmental impact statement required under the National Environmental Policy Act, started three years later, when the project received coverage from the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.
The FAST-41 program originated during the second Obama administration and helps streamline the permitting process for critical infrastructure projects. The program helped the Alaska LNG pipeline achieve initial federal approval in 2020, though progress was stalled under the Biden administration, as it sought to curb fossil fuel deployment in the state. In February of this year, the Permitting Council reactivated the project’s FAST-41 status, requiring some permit renewals and updated biological opinions. The final permit was renewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Dec. 10, completing the federal approval process necessary to start construction.
The Alaska LNG pipeline has long been dubbed a risky project due to its high capital costs and tough, icy terrain, as well as pushback from environmentalists looking to curb fossil fuel use.
The pipeline project is expected to cost around $44 billion to build parallel with the existing TAPS. By comparison, the first phase of the Keystone Pipeline, which stretches more than 2,000 miles from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, cost around $5.2 billion to build.
IN FOCUS: HOW ALASKA BECAME CENTRAL TO TRUMP’S INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY
Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) has defended the project, previously telling the Washington Examiner that it will only be a matter of weeks before developers can begin ordering necessary materials. He expected piping to be ordered in January 2026 and on the ground by next August.
“People are thinking 20 years ago,” Dunleavy said. “The permits are all there, the right-of-ways are all there. We’re not hacking through virgin wilderness. This is going to parallel the oil pipeline, which has a road next to it, all the way down to almost Fairbanks.”
