The FSRU vessel Exemplar, a floating liquefied natural gas terminal, chartered by Finland to replace Russian gas, arrives at the Inkoo port, west of Helsinki, on Dec. 28, 2022. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP)
Alaska faces a dilemma. Anchorage is running out of fuel, and there’s plenty of gas on the North Slope. The state’s oil and gas industry, and many of its politicians, believe the answer is a pipeline.
The problem is cost: an estimated $13.2 billion for the in-state pipeline, which is a mere down payment on an estimated $44.5 billion gas export project that would include gas treatment plants on the North Slope and export facilities in Kenai. The estimate from developer Glenfarne is the same as the low end of a 2016 estimate. And if you believe the cost to build an 807-mile-long pipeline through Alaska hasn’t changed in a decade, we have a bridge to Chukotka that might interest you.