$43bn LNG Project in USA receives federal authorization
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the USA has issued authorization to construct and operate the Alaska LNG Project to the developer, Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC).
The project, estimated at US$43 billion, consists of a Gas Treatment Plant on Alaska’s North Slope, an 800-mile pipeline, and an LNG facility in Nikiski, Alaska. The main line of the Alaska LNG Project traverses over 800 miles from the GTP on the North Slope of Alaska through several boroughs before it crosses Cook Inlet and connects with the liquefaction plant and marine terminal in Nikiski.
The announcement comes after six years of public input, engineering, science-based environmental research, and cultural resource studies incorporating more than 150,000 pages of environmental, engineering, and cultural data.
The Commission granted a Section 3 Natural Gas Act authorization, with conditions, to the AGDC to site, construct and operate the Alaska LNG Project. The project would consist of liquefaction facilities on the Kenai Peninsula designed to produce up to 20 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) LNG for export.
It would also include an approximately 807-mile-long, 42-inch-diameter pipeline capable of transporting up to 3.9 billion cubic feet of gas per day to the liquefaction facilities, a gas treatment plant that would be located in the Prudhoe Bay at the North Slope and two additional natural gas pipelines connecting production units to the gas treatment plant.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has authorized the project to export 20 MMPTA of LNG to nations with which the United States has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). DOE also granted conditional authorization for the exportation of 20 MMTPA of natural gas to nations that do not have an FTA.
AGDC was advised by EXP, which provided project management, strategic regulatory and permitting leadership and guidance. EXP also delivered environmental services including surveys and studies, FERC application, major project permitting and regulatory services.
The project doesn´t yet have investor commitments, but the federal authorization of the project is an important step in attracting investors or buyers.
