Northern Journal

We're excited to revive the Northern Journal podcast for its second season. Have ideas for guests and subjects? Email host Nat Herz at nat[at]northernjournal.com.

If you like what you hear, please consider a paid Northern Journal membership.

Now, for the good stuff:

If you're listening to this podcast, I'm willing to bet you've heard about the Alaska LNG export project — a $44 billion, state-sponsored megadevelopment that would pipe, liquefy and ship natural gas from Alaska's North Slope for customers in Asia. The project has gotten a boost from President Donald Trump, whose administration is pushing Asian allies to sign on, and it's been in the news recently. But it's also been in the news more sporadically for decades...and it's still just a hypothetical project, not a real one. In this episode of the Northern Journal podcast, we dig into the proposal, examine its prospects and break down the obstacles it still faces.

Joining us is Richard Pratt, a veteran LNG industry player who recently analyzed the Alaska LNG project for a trade publication called RBN Energy. Check out his analysis here:

https://rbnenergy.com/road-to-alaska-are-alaska-lng-strengths-enough-to-outweigh-its-costs-challenges-of-construction

There's a little bit of insider lingo and discussion, but if you bear with us, we try to explain most of the concepts and acronyms. To help, here are a few terms you might hear:

LNG: liquefied natural gas, a fuel used mainly by power plants to generate electricity
FEED: front end engineering design, a study phase used to develop and define costs so that investors are more comfortable putting money into a development
AGDC: Alaska Gasline Development Corp., a state-owned agency that, until recently, has led efforts to advance the LNG project
Glenfarne: Glenfarne Group is a privately held developer based in New York and Houston that recently took over efforts to advance the LNG project from AGDC

What is Northern Journal?

Alaska is defined by its environment and its natural resources — the fish in its rivers, the oil and minerals buried underground. The Northern Journal podcast digs into those subjects, with interviews with those who know them best.