The number moving the story is $54 billion — the sum US President Donald Trump on Sept. 30 said South Korea plans to invest in the long-delayed Alaska LNG project, part of a broader package of up to $200 billion in South Korean investment across US energy projects.

The announcement does not represent a final investment commitment. South Korean officials said the two countries agreed only to review the project's commercial viability. A separate framework involving eight US nuclear reactors also remains subject to feasibility reviews.

What Seoul has finalized is different: a $22.3-billion investment in a 6.47-GW gas-fired power plant in Encinal, Tex., that would supply electricity to an adjacent AI data center campus. Alaska LNG participation, by contrast, stays in the appraisal column.

The project

Alaska LNG would move North Slope gas through an 807-mile pipeline to a liquefaction and LNG export terminal at Nikiski, on the Kenai Peninsula. Designed capacity runs to 20 million tpy of LNG, aimed primarily at Asian markets.

Glenfarne Group is lead developer and majority owner, holding a 75% stake acquired in 2025 from Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC), which retained 25%. The project originated in 2014 as a joint effort among AGDC, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, bp, and TransCanada. After the producers withdrew, AGDC became sole owner in 2017 until Glenfarne assumed control.

Permitting done, FID pending

FERC approved the project in 2020, and federal permitting was completed in 2025. A final investment decision has slipped nonetheless, held back by high capital costs and the need to secure sufficient LNG offtake commitments. Glenfarne holds preliminary agreements covering about 13 million tpy and has said roughly 16 million tpy is needed to support financing — a gap of about 3 million tpy.

The company plans to develop Alaska LNG in two financially independent phases. The first would build a pipeline supplying North Slope gas to Alaska consumers. The second would add LNG export infrastructure at Nikiski. Glenfarne is targeting a pipeline investment decision in 2026 and start-up of the full project in 2031.

Following Trump's announcement, Glenfarne said details of any South Korean investment remain under negotiation and that further steps are required before reaching FID.

Watch item

Whether South Korean offtake and equity can close Glenfarne's 3-million-tpy contracting gap ahead of the targeted 2026 pipeline investment decision — and convert a viability review into a sanctioned FID.