U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Governor Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) today applauded President Trump’s leadership for highlighting the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project in his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba today at the White House and announcing a “joint venture” on Alaska oil and gas between the United States and Japan.
On his first day in office, President Trump signed a comprehensive Alaska-specific executive order, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential,” which declared the Alaska LNG Project a top priority of the Trump administration.
President Trump said in his press conference on Feb. 7, 2025, “Japan will soon begin importing historic new shipments of clean American liquefied natural gas in record numbers…We’re talking about the pipeline in Alaska, which is the closest point of major oil and gas to Japan by far…We’re talking about a joint venture of some type between Japan and us having to do with Alaska oil and gas.”
Within the same week, Harvest Alaska announced a potential agreement with Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) and Chugach Electric Association to bolster Southcentral Alaska’s energy supplies through Harvest’s acquisition and redevelopment of the existing Kenai LNG Terminal owned by a MPC subsidiary. The project is designed to repurpose existing assets to enable the timely delivery of additional natural gas supplies to the Southcentral market as early as 2026, with full-scale operations beginning as early as 2028.
Under the proposal, Harvest would own, develop, and operate the LNG terminal and infrastructure, allowing Chugach, MPC, and any other Railbelt customers to secure additional natural gas supplies to help meet market demand.
The project leverages MPC’s legacy LNG export infrastructure to alleviate Southcentral Alaska’s short-term potential natural gas shortage. The facility includes existing dock infrastructure, which was historically capable of handling LNG vessels up to 138,000 cubic meters (approximately 2.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas) and onsite tankage with a storage capacity of 107,000 cubic meters (approximately 2.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas).
This infrastructure and existing FERC approvals position the facility to meet near-term energy needs while longer-term alternatives are developed.
Chugach Electic, which is in discussions with Harvest about utilizing the Kenai LNG facility, emphasized the importance of this partnership in addressing the energy needs of Southcentral families, businesses, and ratepayers.
Sr. Manager of Corporate Communications at Chugach Electric, Julie Hasquet says, they are an “interested customer” and this is the first project that’s been brought to them in the 3 years since they’ve been looking for gas that meets their needs. “And this one has come forward to Chugach as one that brings us gas when we need it.”
Chugach Electric’s contract with Hillcorp is expiring on Mar 31, 2028.
“The good news for Chugach and its members is that we have gas when we need it, which is at the end of the first quarter, 2028, and that’s really exciting, and we’re very optimistic about this project moving forward with Marathon and Harvest,” Hasquet says.
Harvest will conduct a feed study that should be done by mid-year. Once that is complete, Chugach will obtain the information it needs to pursue an agreement, such as the cost of the gas.
In the last few months, Sullivan has directly pitched the importance of the Alaska LNG Project to President Trump and all of his incoming cabinet officials and national security team members. Sullivan has utilized a document, “America’s Gasoline,” to highlight the project’s advantages to America and Asia-Pacific allies.
Sen. Sullivan and Gov. Dunleavy have worked closely with the incoming Trump administration for weeks on this critically important executive order for Alaska.
Sen. Sullivan said, “With his leadership, we will get the Alaska LNG Project built, which will create thousands of good-paying jobs, reinvigorate our American steel industry, significantly reduce our trade deficit in Asia, and deliver clean-burning Alaska gas for Americans, our military, and our allies in the Asia-Pacific, like Japan. Alaskans stand ready to work with the Trump administration, Japan, and the private sector to realize a dream we have pursued for almost half a century.”
“President Trump has been a steadfast supporter of Alaska and its ability to be the solution to many of America’s issues through its vast natural resources, its geopolitical position in the Arctic and Pacific, and Alaska’s ability to help its Asian neighbors such as Japan, with 60 years of clean burning natural gas,” said Gov. Dunleavy. “As we move this project along, we look forward to working with President Trump, Japanese officials, and others to put project agreements in place ASAP.”