By THE ALASKA STORY
March 23, 2026 – The US Department of the Interior announced Monday that TotalEnergies will redirect roughly $1 billion away from offshore wind development and into oil, natural gas, and LNG projects in the United States, a move the Trump administration is framing as a major shift toward “affordable, reliable” energy and one that also carries implications for Alaska’s long-planned LNG export ambitions.
The agreement comes just a few weeks after TotalEnergies signed a deal with Glenfarne to purchase liquefied natural gas from the proposed Alaska LNG project, giving new momentum to the decades-discussed effort to commercialize North Slope gas.
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Under the new Interior Department arrangement, TotalEnergies will renounce offshore wind leases it previously purchased and instead invest approximately $928 million in US oil, gas, and LNG development in 2026. After those investments are made, the federal government will reimburse the company dollar-for-dollar up to the value of the offshore wind lease payments.
The leases to be terminated include one in the Carolina Long Bay area purchased for $133.3 million in June 2022 and another in the New York Bight area purchased for $795 million in May 2022.
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Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the agreement aligns with President Donald Trump’s “Energy Dominance” agenda and marks a pivot away from offshore wind.
“This agreement is yet another win for President Trump’s commitment to affordable and reliable energy for all Americans,” Burgum said. “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi also praised the deal, calling it a shift away from what she described as “ideological” energy policy.
“Americans will benefit from this significant investment in our energy industry, which will also enhance our national security and grid reliability,” Bondi said.
TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné said the company agreed to abandon future offshore wind development in the United States and instead reinvest in LNG and conventional energy.
“Considering that the development of offshore wind projects is not in the country’s interest, we have decided to renounce offshore wind development in the United States, in exchange for the reimbursement of the lease fees,” Pouyanné said. “We will reinvest the refunded lease fees to finance the construction of the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant and the development of our oil and gas activities.”
The company said its 2026 investments will focus on development of the Rio Grande LNG facility in Texas and expansion of conventional oil and shale gas production, including projects in the Gulf of America.
The Alaska angle is significant. TotalEnergies recently signed an agreement with Glenfarne to purchase LNG from the Alaska LNG project, which proposes an 800-mile pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska and a liquefaction facility for exports to Asian markets.
The new federal agreement signals that TotalEnergies is doubling down on LNG investments broadly,a development supporters say could strengthen confidence in the Alaska project as it moves toward financing and early construction.
The administration also said TotalEnergies pledged not to pursue new offshore wind projects in the United States, citing national security, grid reliability, and cost concerns.
Officials argued the reinvestment will support domestic gas production, supply LNG to Europe, and provide fuel for growing electricity demand, including data centers tied to artificial intelligence development.
The Interior Department said the agreement is designed to increase baseload power, reduce energy costs, and shift federal policy away from subsidizing offshore wind toward traditional energy production.
One thought on “TotalEnergies shifts $1B from ideologically driven offshore wind schemes to LNG, reinforcing Alaska gasline momentum”
It is great that oil companies bid on leases in NPRA. Those leases brought in 163 million dollars. Now how is it that if “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers they were paying one billion for leases. I thought leases were to produce revenue for the federal government. How does a tax payer benefit by returning a billion dollars, Seems to me the winner here is the 29 Mt Rio Grande LNG plant.