According to Reuters, the Biden administration has greenlighted exports of liquefied natural gas from the Alaska LNG project. Experts assume that this step will help the United States compete with Russia in supplying natural gas from the Arctic to Asia.
Earlier, the US Department of Energy approved the Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC) project to export gas to non-free trade agreement countries. The roughly $39 billion project is set to be launched by 2030. As part of AGDC, natural gas will be exported mainly to Asian states.
This project is designed to provide Alaska residents and US allies with an additional source of low-emission energy, the company's representative said.
The AGDC project includes a liquefaction plant on the Kenai Peninsula in southern Alaska and an 807-mile (1,300-kilometer) pipeline to transport gas. However, some environmental organizations opposed the project and called it a "carbon bomb".
Later, the Biden administration conducted an environmental review, concluding that the project complies with all the ecological requirements. In addition, experts confirmed that it has economic benefits and meets international security standards.
The Alaska LNG project is intended to be a worthy rival to the Russian one, which is set to become operational in late 2023. By then, Russia plans to launch the first of three lines at its Arctic LNG-2 project. Notably, it is one of the world’s largest LNG plants.
