Today’s Key Takeaways: AK Natives Cheer action to rescind Biden-era NPRA rule. $115b in partner interest for AKLNG. Graphite One on FAST-41 approval. BlackRock escapes TX Oil-Boycott.
OIL:
Alaska Natives Cheer as Trump Admin Axes Biden-Era Oil Drilling Restrictions
Thomas Cattenacci, Washington Free Beacon, June 2, 2025
‘It means they’re listening,’ Alaska mayor Asisaun Toovak tells the Washington Free Beacon
UTQIAGVIK, Alaska—Interior Secretary Doug Burgum delivered welcome news to a roomful of Alaska Natives on Sunday evening: The Trump administration will take action to rescind a Biden-era climate rule that locked up millions of acres from future oil and gas development.
Burgum made the unexpected announcement in Utqiagvik, Alaska—America’s northernmost community and home to the Inupiat people—flanked by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, fellow members of President Donald Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council. At Burgum’s direction, the Interior Department will initiate a formal rulemaking process Monday morning to rescind the regulations.
The action, if eventually finalized, would remove restrictions former president Joe Biden unveiled on Earth Day 2024, blocking development across 13 million acres of federal lands in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve—an area Congress specifically set aside for development decades ago. The Biden administration went through with the restrictions despite vigorous opposition from Alaska Natives, many of whom were present at the town hall event in Utqiagvik on Sunday evening.
“The three of us have a charge—it’s our jobs in our respective departments to go and execute on unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary potential,” Burgum remarked to applause.
GAS:
Glenfarne’s Alaska LNG project attracts $115bn in partner interest
Offshore Technology, June 4, 2025
The FID on the domestic portion of the Alaska LNG pipeline is expected by late 2025.
US energy company Glenfarne has announced more than $115bn of strategic partner interest for the Alaska LNG project.
The project is being developed by Glenfarne Group subsidiary Glenfarne Alaska LNG in partnership with the State of Alaska’s Alaska Gasline Development Corporation.
The first round of the strategic partner selection process attracted formal expressions of interest amounting to more than $115bn, including supply, service, investment and customer agreements from more than 50 companies.
The companies that took part in the process are from the likes of the EU, India, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the US.
Initiated in early May, the strategic partner selection process is seeking global companies eager for a long-term partnership with the Alaska LNG project.
The project features an 807-mile pipeline with a 42in diameter, designed to transport sufficient natural gas to satisfy Alaska’s domestic requirements as well as the 20 million tonnes per annum export capacity of the Alaska LNG facility.
To expedite the project, the pipeline will be constructed in two financially independent phases.
Phase one will extend approximately 765 miles from the North Slope to the Anchorage region. Phase two will involve adding compression equipment and around 42 miles of pipeline beneath Cook Inlet to the Nikiski-based Alaska LNG Export Facility, with concurrent construction of the LNG export facility itself.
A final investment decision (FID) for the domestic segment of the Alaska LNG pipeline is anticipated by Glenfarne late in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Glenfarne CEO and founder Brendan Duval said: “The many expressions of interest received reinforce that the market recognises Alaska LNG’s advantaged economics, fully permitted status, and powerful federal, state and local support.
“The reality is being understood that the energy crisis in south-central Alaska can only be solved, in the long term, by the domestic portion of the pipeline, which is independently financially viable. We look forward to selecting our strategic partners and driving the project forward together.”
Glenfarne recently announced a collaboration with Worley to finalise the engineering for the pipeline segment, further advancing the project’s development.
Graphite One surges on FAST-41 approval for Alaska mine project
Staff Writer, Mining.Com, June 3, 2025
Graphite One (TSXV: GPH) shares surged on Tuesday after the company announced its mine project has been approved for listing on the US government’s FAST-41 dashboard, becoming the first critical minerals project in Alaska to obtain this status.
FAST-41 is designed to streamline a project’s permitting process by improving federal agency coordination and timeliness of environmental reviews. The dashboard is set up to increase the transparency of procedures for agencies, thereby reducing the potential for delay and unpredictability in issuing permits.
“The approval of Graphite Creek as FAST-41’s first Alaskan mining project is a major step for G1 and our complete US-based supply chain strategy,” said Anthony Huston, Graphite One’s CEO, in reference to the company’s large graphite deposit located in the Kigluaik Mountains of the Seward Peninsula.
Shares of Graphite One soared 10.8% to C$0.92 apiece by 11:40 a.m. ET on the news, for a market capitalization of C$131.6 million.
The approval follows Graphite One’s recent submission of a feasibility study (FS) on the project, which it completed 15 months ahead of schedule with support from the Department of Defense.
The study outlined an annual production capacity of 175,000 tonnes in concentrate over 20 years for the Graphite Creek mine. This estimate is based on a three-hold increase in measured and indicated resources compared to the pre-feasibility study in 2022, at nearly 4.8 million tonnes of graphite, reinforcing its status as the largest graphite deposit in the US.
Based on the improved resource, the FS projected a post-tax internal rate of return of 27%, using an 8% discount rate, with a net present value of over $5 billion and a payback period of 7.5 years. First production from Graphite Creek is anticipated in 2030.
“America’s dependency on foreign minerals and metals is a drag on our economy and a danger to our national security,” Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said in a statement.
“As the largest natural graphite deposit in the nation, adding Graphite Creek to the FAST-41 permitting dashboard sends a strong signal that Alaska is key to US critical mineral development,” Dunleavy said.
The deposit is the first link in Graphite One’s planned vertically integrated operation to produce lithium-ion battery anode materials and other graphite products for the US market. The second link is an advanced manufacturing facility located in Ohio.
POLITICS:
BlackRock Escapes Texas Oil-Boycott List After ESG Retreat
Danielle Moran, Bloomberg/Rigzone, June 4, 2025
BlackRock Inc. was removed from Texas’ blacklist of companies that boycott fossil fuels, ending a three-year standoff over the environmental policies of the world’s largest asset manager.
The move means pension funds and other state-run investment accounts — which manage more than $300 billion of assets — will be allowed to purchase BlackRock shares, invest in its exchange-traded funds and hire the firm for advice and risk management. Inclusion on the list resulted in some Texas entities pulling billions of dollars of assets from the firm.
State Comptroller Glenn Hegar said BlackRock had rolled back many of its green-focused initiatives, including exiting the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and stepping back from the Climate Action 100+, a group devoted to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The move marks a win for BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, who has been courting Texas leaders. Last year, he took the stage with Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick at a summit focused on shoring up the state’s energy grid, and just months ago BlackRock sponsored a table at the Black Tie & Boots Gala, a celebration of conservative politics in Texas. The company is also backing a Dallas-based Texas Stock Exchange.
“We appreciate the Comptroller’s resolution of this matter,” a spokesperson for the firm said in a statement. “BlackRock is proud to help millions of Texans retire with dignity and, on behalf of clients, invests over $400 billion in corporations, local governments, energy infrastructure and other private assets throughout the state. These investments support the continued growth of the Texas economy.”
Hegar touted some of BlackRock’s steps. He said while they are “unrelated” to the listing decision, the actions “show a real commitment to overall policy changes and a desire to act as a trusted partner in the growth of the Texas economy.”