Today’s Key Takeaways: Glenfarne shows AKLNG the money. Oil prices jump with more Russian sanctions. AK legislators focused on Cook Inlet gas. UAF given $9.4M to assess critical minerals sites. 5 ways to make energy dominance a reality.
NEWS OF THE DAY:
LNG project development company says it has an agreement to develop $44 billion Alaska project
Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News, January 9, 2025
A New York-based company pursuing LNG export projects in the Lower 48 said this week that it has a deal with the Alaska gasline agency to develop the state’s long-sought $44 billion Alaska LNG project.
“Glenfarne confirms it has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. for the development of the Alaska LNG project, including the Alaska export facility, pipeline, and a carbon capture facility,” a spokesperson with Glenfarne Energy Transition said in an email Thursday.
The deal is an important development for the Alaska LNG project, in the works for more than a decade. Board members for the project last year had suggested shutting the project down, if enough progress was not made by now.
OIL:
Oil Prices and News
Spencer Kimball, CNBC, January 10, 2025
Crude prices jump as U.S. imposes sweeping sanctions against Russia oil industry
Oil prices jumped on Friday as the U.S. Treasury Department announced sweeping sanctions against Russia’s oil industry.
Brent gained $1.92, or 2.5%, to $78.84 per barrel by 11:12 a.m. ET, while U.S. crude oil advanced $1.89, or 2.56%, to $75.81 per barrel. Brent broke $80 per barrel for the first time since October earlier in day, hitting a session high of $80.75.
The sanctions target Russian oil companies Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas and their subsidiaries, more than 180 tankers, and more than a dozen Russian energy officials and executives. The sanctioned executives include Gazprom Neft CEO Aleksandr Valeryevich Dyukov.
The sanctioned vessels are mostly oil tankers that are part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that has dodged existing sanctions on the country’s energy exports, according to the Treasury Department.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue for funding its brutal and illegal war against Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.
GAS:
State lawmakers plan to continue to focus on the need for new Cook Inlet natural gas
Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon, January 10, 2025
In a preview forum held by industry groups, legislators said royalty relief will get a new look, and they expect action on mining, seafood and other natural resources
Last year’s session of the Alaska Legislature put a big focus on energy and alleviating an impending shortage of the Cook Inlet natural gas that powers the most populous part of the state.
This year, even though some of the membership changed a bit with the election, Alaskans can expect the same focus from the Legislature, leading lawmakers said at a resource industry forum in Anchorage on Thursday.
Incoming House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, said one thing likely to be produced by the 34th Alaska Legislature is a follow-up to last year’s bill that modernized the utility system along the Railbelt, the corridor running from Fairbanks to Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula.
That measure, House Bill 307, put into law many long-desired facets of energy delivery to the state’s most densely populated region, like a unified transmission system and a system to create a portfolio of energy sources, including renewables, Edgmon said. Additionally, the state is benefitting from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money for energy upgrades and diversification, he said.
“We’re turning a chapter in energy here in Alaska. I’m pretty excited about what we’re going to do over the next couple of years,” Edgmon said at the event held by the Resource Development Council for Alaska and the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.
One idea likely to come up again is royalty relief for Cook Inlet natural gas producers. The House passed a bill last year that would have reduced state royalties on new natural gas and oil produced from the inlet, but state senators were skeptical about whether benefits would result and dropped the idea. In the end, lawmakers passed a wide-ranging bill, House Bill 50, that incorporated numerous Cook Inlet and Railbelt energy provisions but omitted the House-approved Cook Inlet royalty relief.
MINING:
UAF awarded $9.4M for critical minerals
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, January 9, 2025
University will use the funds for a DOE CORE-CM regional program to evaluate and prioritize critical mineral sites in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington.
Alaska is enriched with at least 49 out of the 50 minerals critical to America’s economy, national security, and energy future. Many of these critical minerals, however, are not found in traditional ore deposits. Instead, they are often found as minor byproducts of more traditionally mined metals such as copper, gold, silver, and zinc or associated with the enormous deposits of coal and other carbon ores found across the 49th State.
To gain a better understanding of The Last Frontier state’s potential to be a leading domestic supplier of critical minerals, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) $7.5 million to carry out regional-scale critical minerals assessments across Alaska, as well as the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon.
The funds awarded to UAF are part of a $45 million investment in critical mineral projects across six U.S. regions, from Alaska to the Appalachian Mountains.
POLITICS:
Five Ways President Trump Can Turn Energy Dominance Into Reality
Dan Eberhart, Forbes, January 10, 2025
- Roll Back Biden Era Regulations
- Reform Permitting System
- Accelerate LNG Export Approvals
- Open More Federal Lands and Waters to Drilling
- Exercise Caution With Tariffs
Media reports have begun coalescing around the belief that the incoming Trump administration’s “energy dominance” agenda—particularly its promises of significantly expanding U.S. oil and natural gas production—will be impossible to fulfill. Skeptics argue that President-elect Donald Trump’s plans will slam into real-world constraints: U.S. output is already at record highs, the shale basins that propelled America to the top tier of global energy producers over the past 15 years are now mature, and the federal government simply cannot compel private companies to drill when market conditions are unfavorable.
While it’s true that the era of annual one-million-barrel-per-day growth in U.S. oil output—witnessed during most of Trump’s first term—is behind us, there are still concrete ways for the administration to facilitate higher production than currently projected. Market forces remain the prime driver of drilling decisions, and U.S. shale resources have become more expensive to develop as the best acreage has been exhausted.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic oil production is projected to increase by about 300,000 barrels per day in 2025—reaching 13.52 million barrels per day—before leveling off in 2026. A similar trend is expected for natural gas output.