Anchorage, Alaska — August 31, 2025 — The long-debated trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline may finally reach a turning point by the end of this year.
Rex Cannon, co-president of 8 Star Alaska LLC, the company spearheading the project, told attendees at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference that a final go-or-no-go investment decision is planned for the fourth quarter of 2025.
“We intend to finalize gas sales agreements and then make a final investment decision before year’s end,” Cannon said during his presentation. If successful, the decision would break a half-century cycle of failed attempts to launch a major Alaska gas pipeline.
Governor Mike Dunleavy, who attended the session, underscored the moment’s significance. “I’m excited about the gas line because I like an underdog story,” he said. “(We’re) incredibly close. I’m not going to pop the champagne bottle until the contract (is) signed and there is pipe being built and welded.”
8 Star Alaska, a joint venture formed after Glenfarne Group acquired a 75% stake in the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation’s project, envisions the 807-mile pipeline as a two-phase endeavor.
Phase One (Targeted completion: 2029)
Construction of a pipeline stretching from the North Slope to Cook Inlet, supplying gas to southcentral Alaska. Estimated cost: $11 billion. This phase would rely on gas from Point Thompson and other North Slope projects and would supply utilities facing looming shortages.
A Glenfarne spokesperson said: “Phase 1 is core to solving Alaska’s natural gas crisis because it is both financially viable as an independent part of the project and vital to bringing Alaskan gas to global markets.”
Phase Two (Longer-term expansion)
Addition of a North Slope gas treatment facility, compressor stations, and an LNG export terminal on the Kenai Peninsula, boosting capacity to 20 million tons per year and opening international sales.
Cannon confirmed that 8 Star has already signed letters of intent with Thailand’s PTT and Taiwan’s CPC, accounting for nearly 40% of the project’s planned LNG exports.
“To date, where we are, is we have signed either letters of intent or essentially cooperation agreements with both PTT out of Thailand and CPC out of Taiwan to supply about 8 million tons of LNG,” Cannon said. “That leaves about 12 out of the 20 million tons per year capacity. We’re in negotiations right now for well more than those 12. Frankly, it’s going to be kind of a question of who gets there first.”
However, industry experts caution that the high cost of Alaska gas may deter buyers in Japan and South Korea, two of the most likely LNG customers.
The project’s biggest hurdle has long been financing. Cannon said the company is pursuing two tracks:
He added that 8 Star has solicited bids from 15 international mills and suppliers for the steel pipe and is in advanced talks with construction contractors.
According to Cannon, 95% of the right-of-way has been secured, with remaining negotiations “well in hand.” Most engineering and permitting are also complete.
Because construction won’t be finished in time to avert near-term gas shortages in southcentral Alaska, 8 Star plans to build a temporary import terminal at the same site where its future LNG export facility will be located. That terminal, Cannon noted, could later be converted to handle exports.
At the conference, Cannon and state officials signed a ceremonial agreement for the pipeline’s route through Denali National Park. Governor Dunleavy praised the rapid pace of developments, saying: “This is just one example of the speed by which they’re moving, and it’s going to be an amazing five months.”
For Alaska, a successful decision could finally deliver on decades of promises to monetize the state’s vast North Slope gas reserves while addressing looming in-state energy shortages.
Originally reported by James Brooks in Alaska Beacon.
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