By SUZANNE DOWNING
March 10, 2026 – The long-planned Alaska LNG project enters a critical stretch this spring, with several milestones expected soon that could mark the transition from planning to on-the-ground construction.
Among the next developments Alaskans can watch for: Contracts for large worker housing camps, federal permit decisions for early construction work, and a possible conditional award memorandum that would clear the way for major early infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and gravel extraction.
The project is led by Glenfarne Group through its subsidiary Glenfarne Alaska LNG, which holds a 75% stake in the project through 8 Star Alaska LLC. The remaining 25% is owned by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, the state’s gasline development agency. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permitted the project as a whole in 2020.
One of the first visible signs of construction activity could be contracts for temporary worker housing along the pipeline route.
The project is expected to require large modular housing complexes, commonly called “man camps,” to house construction crews. Plans call for a mobile, hotel-style housing system capable of accommodating up to 7,000 workers during peak construction.
The camps would consist of single-room accommodations, shared dining facilities, sleeping quarters, and one- or two-person bathroom units built to North Slope industrial housing standards. Contractors would be responsible not only for installing the modular facilities but also operating and maintaining them during the construction period.
Before work begins, however, the project needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for early construction activity associated with the camps and related infrastructure. Those permits have already been requested in early February, and regulators typically have about 60 days to respond, putting a decision potentially in the very near future.
Another milestone expected this spring is a conditional award memorandum, or CAM, tied to what’s known as “early works,” or project infrastructure.
That step would move the project closer to a final investment decision for the entire project. Early works includes building temporary access roads, bridges, gravel pads, and other logistical infrastructure needed before the main pipeline installation can begin.
The Alaska LNG pipeline would run roughly 739 miles from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska in Phase One, delivering natural gas to in-state customers. Glenfarne is targeting mechanical completion of the pipeline in 2028 with first gas deliveries expected in 2029.
Even as the project advances commercially, developers and the State of Alaska must grapple with another major issue: property taxes.
Alaska currently allows boroughs along the pipeline route to levy property taxes of up to 20 mills on oil and gas infrastructure. While that rate is not unusual, LNG megaprojects like this one typically receive tax incentives or abatements from states and counties (in this case boroughs) during their early construction phases because they must make massive upfront investments years before any revenue is generated.
Without adjustments, developers find the tax burden weighs heavily on the project’s economics during the early years when construction costs are high but no gas is yet flowing.
Potential solutions being discussed include property-tax abatements, tax holidays, sliding-scale rates, or other reforms that would better align tax timing with the project’s financial structure.
The state currently receives no revenue from North Slope gas that remains stranded. If built, the pipeline and export system could eventually generate hundreds of millions of dollars annually in state and local taxes, royalties, and economic activity, along with thousands of jobs and new business development.
In the meantime, the project has been steadily lining up commercial partners and contractors.
Glenfarne says it has now secured preliminary commitments for about 13 of the roughly 18 major contracts required to move the project forward.
In January, the company announced conditional awards for pipeline construction across multiple segments of the route, selecting major North American and international contractors including Precision Pipeline, Price Gregory International, Michels Pipeline, ASRC Energy Services, Doyon Energy Services, Cruz Construction, Barnard Pipeline, SICIM, Spiecapag, and U.S. Pipeline.
The project also secured preliminary agreements for roughly two-thirds of the steel pipe required for construction from major international manufacturers including Corinth Pipeworks and Europipe, along with steel supplier POSCO International.
On the supply side, Glenfarne has signed gas sales precedent agreements with North Slope producers including ExxonMobil, Hilcorp Alaska, and Great Bear Pantheon to feed the pipeline.
The company has also signed preliminary agreements with in-state customers. A letter of intent with ENSTAR Natural Gas Co. would supply gas to Southcentral Alaska utilities, while a separate agreement would deliver up to 50 million cubic feet per day of gas to the Donlin Gold mine project in Western Alaska.
Momentum has also been building on the export side of the project’s second phase.
In February, French energy giant TotalEnergies signed a letter of intent to purchase two million tonnes per year of LNG from the Alaska project. That agreement added to earlier preliminary commitments from Asian buyers including JERA, Tokyo Gas, CPC, PTT, and POSCO.
Altogether, Glenfarne says it has lined up preliminary long-term agreements for about 13 million tonnes per year of LNG; that’s more than half of the project’s planned 20-million-tonne annual export capacity.
The company says it intends to secure commitments for about 80% of total export capacity before financing the full project.
The Alaska LNG project has been discussed in various forms for more than four decades. But the current structure, separating the project into a domestic pipeline phase followed by an export phase, is designed to accelerate progress.
With federal permits pending, early construction awards expected, and commercial agreements continuing to accumulate, the coming months could reveal whether the long-awaited project is finally heading toward construction this spring. The next few weeks are critical, and come just as some members of the Legislature appear to be trying to kill the project outright. Related stories on that aspect are linked here:
One thought on “Alaska LNG project making steady progress as key decisions take shape”
A question about terminology here: Why do people keep referring to this as a “LNG (liquified natural gas) Project”, when the liquification of the natural gas would only happen, and be present, at the very end of the line? To put it differently, wouldn’t the pipeline itself be a NATURAL GAS pipeline, not a LIQUIFIED natural gas pipeline? I believe that it would have to be gaseous, not liquified, natural gas moving through the pipeline.