The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week approved Trans-Foreland Pipeline Company LLC’s request for an extension to convert a dormant LNG export terminal in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula to an import facility.
Regulators give more time for Alaska LNG import facility
Alton Wallace, The Center Square, December 9, 2025
Federal regulators have approved an Alaska company’s request for three more years to change an existing LNG export terminal into one that instead receives gas imported for use within the state.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week approved Trans-Foreland Pipeline Company LLC’s request for an extension to convert a dormant LNG export terminal in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula to an import facility, a regulatory filing shows. The facility would supply gas to electric utilities in the south central part of Alaska, according to the filing.
The Kenai plant, the first-ever LNG export terminal in North America, entered service in 1969 and was operational until 2015. Before it was idled, the facility exported liquified natural gas produced at gas fields in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, which are becoming depleted.
“In January 2023, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources published a study demonstrating that natural gas demand is projected to exceed supply beginning in 2027, with the gap widening significantly over time,” the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said in the filing.
The Commission initially authorized a plan to convert the LNG facility from export to import in December 2020. The regulator required that the conversion work be completed by December 2022, but then-owner Marathon Petroleum obtained a three-year extension shortly before the deadline.
Marathon sold its interest in the Kenai facility in November to Hilcorp Energy, a Houston-based company that is the biggest supplier in Alaska’s gas market.
Hilcorp, which produces most Cook Inlet gas, has said it cannot guarantee that future supplies will be at current levels. Three years ago, Hilcorp told Alaska’s two largest electric cooperatives they would need to find gas elsewhere by March 2028, when current supply agreements are set to expire.
Harvest Alaska, a subsidiary of Hilcorp that would operate the Kenai LNG import terminal, said existing storage tanks and associated facilities could provide up to 7 million standard cubic feet per day of gas for use in power generation.
Harvest says it is in “advanced talks” with global LNG suppliers. The company is targeting a final investment decision in the second quarter of 2026 and anticipates LNG imports could begin in the first half of 2028.
The plan to convert the Kenai facility to receive LNG could cost $500 million or more, according to utility studies and Alaska officials, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Glenfarne Energy wants to build a separate, competing LNG import facility in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula that would later be converted to export gas.
New York and Houston-based Glenfarne is concurrently planning the Alaska LNG project, which includes construction of an 800-mile pipeline to move gas from the North Slope southward to Alaskan communities and to a future LNG export terminal.
When the pipeline across the North Slope is completed, Glenfarne and its project partners plan to build a new import terminal in Nikiski intentionally designed to be the first stage of the larger Alaska LNG export terminal.
In January, the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corporation sold a 75% interest in Alaska LNG to Glenfarne for an undisclosed amount.
“Contango and Dolly Varden are touting the deal as a step toward becoming a bigger, multibillion-dollar business. Once combined, their executives said, they’d have deeper pockets.”
Alaska mining company pushing Cook Inlet, Hatcher Pass projects will merge with Canadian firm
Max Graham, The Northern Journal, December 9, 2025
Contango Ore helped build Alaska’s newest major mine. Its merger with and Dolly Varden Silver comes amid a flurry of deals in the state’s mining industry.
A Fairbanks-based company with several Alaska mining projects, including two near Anchorage, could nearly double in size in a proposed merger with a Canadian firm.
The deal, announced this week, would combine Contango Ore with Vancouver-based Dolly Varden Silver Corp. It’s the latest in a recent flurry of deals in the global mining industry, including in Alaska.
Contango is involved in multiple high-profile projects in Alaska, including the already operating Manh Choh mine in the Interior. It’s also doing substantial exploratory work at two other prospects — one in Hatcher Pass, above the Mat-Su, and another on Indigenous-owned land surrounded by a national park southwest of Anchorage that’s drawn sharp opposition.
“State officials say corporate restrictions on oil and gas projects create uneven playing field”
Alaska hits back at insurers accused of using ‘woke’ underwriting to reshape energy policy as ANWR reopens
Charles Creitz, Fox News, December 8, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: The state of Alaska sent warning letters Monday to four major insurance firms, saying their climate-related policies may violate state insurance and consumer-protection laws by creating an uneven playing field for energy projects.
The news comes as Alaska’s congressional delegation led a successful effort to disapprove – or overturn – Biden-era restrictions placed on energy exploration in Section 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) on Thursday, effectively lifting those restrictions.
Alaska Attorney General Stephen Cox and Commerce Commissioner Julie Sande warned AIG, Zurich, Chubb and The Hartford that some of their policies may conflict with state rules designed to protect Alaska’s status as a leading investment destination, particularly for energy production.
“Alaska’s insurance code is built on a central premise: underwriting decisions must rest on risk, and that means no discrimination based on extra-legal political, environmental, or long-range policy commitments,” the beginning of each of the four letters read.
To paraphrase the late, great Hans Gruber from the fabulous Christmas season movie “Die Hard”: You asked for a miracle, I give you America’s oil industry.
Exxon Mobil Sees Higher Earnings, Greater Returns in New 2030 Plan – No single company played a bigger role in creating that 17-year miracle than ExxonMobil, which ranks as far and away as the largest producer in the prolific Permian Basin. While its European competitors flew off into ESG la-la-land over the last 6 years, Exxon largely maintained focus on its core oil and gas business, enabling it to maintain profits that vastly outstrip those of even is main U.S. peer, Chevron.
On Tuesday, Exxon announced a revised outlook which projects its profits continuing to rise over the coming 5 years despite the current challenging oil price picture.
Key Excerpt: The energy-and-petrochemical company on Tuesday raised its outlook to $25 billion in earnings growth and $35 billion in cash flow growth from 2024 to 2030, a $5 billion improvement in both metrics compared with its prior forecasts.
Earnings growth is projected to average 13% per year through 2030, with double-digit cash-flow growth, while share repurchases are expected to drive per-share growth higher, the company said.
Exxon said it expects to generate about $145 billion in cumulative surplus cash flow over the next five years, assuming oil prices averaging $65 a barrel. Return on capital employed is expected to reach over 17% in 2030.
From David Blackmon’s 5 Big Energy Stories 12.10.25