Alaska governor’s race survey: how much should companies pay in oil taxes?
Nathaniel Herz, Northern Journal, June 5, 2026

Legislative discussion of Alaska’s system of oil production taxes gained increasing traction this year, as the state grapples with a structural deficit. 

Legislative leaders say they’ve had conversations about hiring consultants that could review the tax system, which has in the past been a key revenue source for the state. Late in this year’s legislative session, Senate leaders unveiled a proposal that would have eliminated some key, company-friendly provisions in the existing law. It didn’t pass, but the topic is likely to generate substantial debate next year.

This week, Alaska’s gubernatorial candidates weigh in on whether they’d change the current production tax system — the foundation of which was put into place by a major 2013 tax rewrite, Senate Bill 21.

Above and beyond powering current mines, the Alaska LNG Project has the potential to power future operations and allow the state to realize more value from its critical mineral resources.

Alaska LNG could fuel state’s mining future
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, Jume 3, 2026

“Alaska is entering into a period of unprecedented opportunity.”

This was the message Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy delivered to attendees of the 2026 Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. This opportunity centers on Alaska LNG, a megaproject that has the potential to solve the state’s internal energy issues, deliver reliable natural gas to the United States and its allies for decades, and create the energy foundation needed to transform Alaska from a mining state to a critical metals powerhouse.

Energizing Donlin with LNG

Above and beyond powering current mines, the Alaska LNG Project has the potential to power future operations and allow the state to realize more value from its critical mineral resources.

The most immediate and tangible example of Alaska LNG’s benefits to mining in the state is the 45-million-ounce Donlin Gold project.

Donlin Gold LLC

Donlin Gold developers plan to build a 315-mile pipeline to deliver natural gas to the 45-million-oz gold project in Southwest Alaska.

Earlier this year, developers of the Donlin Gold project signed a deal with Glenfarne, the majority owner and developer of the Alaska LNG Project, to explore the idea of delivering natural gas to the 45-million-oz gold mine project in Southwest Alaska.

“A reliable, secure supply of economic natural gas from Alaska LNG has the potential to substantially enhance our ability to unlock value and upside potential in Donlin Gold,” said John Paulson, 40% owner of Donlin Gold.

A letter of intent signed by both parties in January outlines plans for Glenfarne to build a roughly 315-mile pipeline that would connect a future mine at Donlin to the Alaska LNG pipeline.

Energy key to Alaska refining

While Donlin demonstrates how Alaska LNG could power future mines, affordable and abundant in-state natural gas also has the potential to energize the processing and refining facilities that would create more value from Alaska’s vast mineral wealth and address a key critical minerals security issue for the U.S.

“In practical Alaska terms, the state still exports most of its metals as concentrate to smelters and refineries outside Alaska (often outside the U.S.),” Alaska Miners Association President Dave Larimer said during a Critical Conversations interview with Mining News earlier this year. “That exports value, jobs, and leverage – and it leaves operators and the state exposed to treatment charges, shipping windows, geopolitics, and single-point downstream failures.”

Building processing and refining capacity in Alaska would also address the U.S.’s heavy reliance on imports from China and others for the minerals and metals critical to American manufacturing and national security.

During a May 19 keynote panel at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Audrey Robertson underscored critical minerals as a top issue being addressed by the Energy Department and the Trump administration as a whole.

“If we have to rely on the Chinese, whenever we have to rely on another country, especially a country that isn’t necessarily considered to be a long-term ally, share the same values, etc., you run a risk,” she told the nearly 1,000 attendees of the three-day conference.

While a lot of investment and work remains to build a complete mines-to-metals value chain in the U.S., the middle processing link is considered the most crucial.

Alaska, which hosts deposits enriched with 56 of the 60 minerals deemed critical to the U.S., has the geological endowment and geographical positioning to serve as a major minerals processing hub for the U.S. and its allies.