The cost of the Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, for which U.S. President Donald Trump announced South Korea's participation in investment, is more than double that of LNG projects along the U.S. Gulf Coast, Reuters reported on the 1st (local time).

According to Reuters, U.S. energy developer Glenpoint, the organizer of the Alaska LNG project, estimated the project cost at $44.5 billion to $54.5 billion (approx. 60.4 trillion to 74 trillion won).

Glenpoint first presented this estimate to the Alaska State Legislature in June.

Reuters reported, "Considering its production capacity of 20 million tons per year, it amounts to $2.2 billion to $2.7 billion (approx. 3 trillion to 3.7 trillion won) per 1 million tons, making it the most expensive U.S. LNG export project proposed to date."

U.S. LNG projects approved following Russia's invasion of Ukraine have generally been built at an average cost of $1 billion or less per 1 million tons.


Cheniere Energy's Stage 3 expansion project in Corpus Christi, Texas, was estimated to cost about $8 billion to add 10.5 million tons of annual production capacity.

That is approximately $760 million per 1 million tons.

The project pursued by Glenpoint requires building everything from scratch: a 1,300-kilometer pipeline ($13.2 billion to $16.9 billion) from the North Slope in northern Alaska to Nikiski in the south, a North Slope gas treatment plant ($7.7 billion to $9.2 billion), and a liquefaction terminal ($23.6 billion to $28.4 billion).

Jason Feer, head of intelligence at energy consulting firm Poten & Partners, said, "The question is whether Asian buyers are willing to pay a premium for supply security," adding, "We haven't seen any evidence of that so far."

Alex Munton, global gas and LNG research director at Rapidan Energy Group, also pointed out that the project "might not meet commercial standards for investment."
 
(Photo: Capture of data submitted by Glenpoint, Yonhap News)