Glenfarne, ConocoPhillips sign 30-year gas deal for Alaska LNG project

Glenfarne Alaska LNG and ConocoPhillips Alaska have locked in a 30-year gas sales precedent agreement that ties North Slope gas to Phase One of Alaska LNG, a step that could turn years of planning into a real construction program if the project clears its remaining hurdles.

The agreement, announced May 18, gives Glenfarne the committed North Slope gas volumes it says are enough to support a Phase One final investment decision. Glenfarne also said all major North Slope producers have now committed enough gas to support that decision, a milestone that matters because it moves the project from broad political support into the commercial lineup needed before banks, partners and the state can treat it as buildable.

For the Slope, the practical stakes are local. If Phase One advances, the project would create demand for contractors, heavy equipment, camp support, trucking, aviation, and the service work that follows large industrial buildouts. It would also lengthen the planning horizon for roads, ports, air support and other infrastructure that already serves Prudhoe Bay and remote-field operations. The bigger economic question is whether North Slope gas becomes a new source of long-term activity and borough value, or remains another deferred promise.

Glenfarne describes Phase One as a 739-mile, 42-inch pipeline that would move North Slope gas south to meet Alaska’s domestic energy needs. The broader Alaska LNG plan is an 807-mile, 42-inch system with Phase Two adding LNG export infrastructure in Nikiski. Alaska LNG says the pipeline has a capacity of 3.3 billion cubic feet per day and is designed in two financially independent phases to speed execution and reduce development risk.

The project has been moving through regulatory and commercial stages for years. Alaska Gasline Development Corporation filed the original federal application in April 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a draft environmental impact statement in June 2019, and a final EIS for the Alaska LNG Project was completed in 2020. Glenfarne has paired the new ConocoPhillips deal with other 2026 commercial steps, including an offtake agreement with TotalEnergies announced Feb. 26.

ConocoPhillips Alaska President Erec Isaacson said the company’s participation supports reliable access to responsibly produced North Slope natural gas and complements its investment in Alaska. Glenfarne President Adam Prestidge said the agreement established commercial terms for ConocoPhillips to supply gas and help Phase One provide energy security for Alaska.

What remains unresolved is still substantial: regulatory approvals, financing and construction all still have to line up, and the broader legislative question of how aggressively Alaska should back a North Slope gasline is still in play. For now, the deal is a real commercial step, not a finished project, and the next decision points will determine whether it becomes work on the Slope or another headline that stops short of steel in the ground.