Harvest Alaska announced an agreement with Marathon Petroleum Corporation and Chugach Electric Association to enhance Southcentral Alaska’s energy supply through the acquisition and redevelopment of the Kenai LNG Terminal.
The project aims to repurpose existing assets, allowing for the timely delivery of additional natural gas to the region as early as 2026, with full-scale operations projected to begin by 2028.
Under the proposed plan, Harvest will take ownership of, develop, and operate the LNG terminal and infrastructure, ensuring that Chugach, MPC, and other Railbelt customers have access to much-needed natural gas supplies to meet market demands. The initiative leverages MPC’s existing LNG export infrastructure to help address a potential short-term natural gas shortage facing the region.
The Kenai LNG facility boasts existing dock infrastructure capable of accommodating LNG vessels of up to 138,000 cubic meters (approximately 2.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas) and onsite storage tankage with a capacity of 107,000 cubic meters (approximately 2.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas). With existing approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the facility is well-positioned to provide an immediate energy solution while long-term alternatives are explored.
“Harvest has a long history of operating critical oil and gas infrastructure across the state, and this announcement furthers our commitment to ensuring Alaska has the energy it needs,” said Harvest CEO Jason Rebrook. “By repurposing Marathon’s existing LNG facility, we aim to provide certainty to the Southcentral gas market while meeting the needs of Railbelt utilities. We are proud to collaborate with Marathon, Chugach Electric, and other Southcentral utilities to bring this project online and ensure the reliable delivery of natural gas in a timely and cost-efficient manner.”
Harvest Alaska, a subsidiary of Harvest Midstream, is a privately held midstream services provider based in Anchorage. It operates pipeline systems in Cook Inlet and on the North Slope and is part of Harvest Midstream, a US company based in Houston.
Chugach is in discussions with Harvest to use the Kenai LNG facility.
“Providing our members with safe, reliable, and affordable electric service is core to our values and mission. We are pleased to have a potential solution to meet the gas needs of our members at the right time,” said Chugach CEO Arthur Miller. “We’ve been exploring options to fill the gap left by our expiring Hilcorp contract, which ends on March 31, 2028. This project presents a great opportunity to work with partners who have extensive experience and knowledge of gas operations in Alaska. We look forward to continued discussions and analysis with Harvest Alaska as they progress the front-end engineering and design study over the next several months.”
MPC also expressed strong support for the project, emphasizing its potential benefits for the region’s energy security.
“We believe the Kenai LNG terminal offers the quickest and lowest-cost solution to bring additional natural gas to Southcentral Alaska and beyond,” said Bruce Jackman, Vice President of MPC’s Kenai Refinery. “Our Kenai refinery employees work around the clock to provide gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel to their fellow Alaskans, and a reliable supply of natural gas is critical to the refinery’s operations. We’re excited about this partnership with Harvest and Chugach to work toward bringing new natural gas to the region.”
With Southcentral Alaska facing a natural gas shortage, the acquisition and redevelopment of the Kenai LNG Terminal may be a significant step in securing a stable and efficient natural gas supply for the region’s future. The project’s strategic use of existing infrastructure, coupled with strong partnerships among key industry players, underscores a commitment to energy reliability and sustainability in the state.
So(?), AK907 is going to ‘import’ LNG from afar // out-of-state?
Great news! Even better that we now have an administration that is unlikely to sign an EO or back a court case that shuts this down because of greenhouse gases or climate change.
Common sense is finally prevailing. Or is it just the lack of other options now that the clock is running out?
No mention as to how much investment is being made to do this. As it sits, unless other electrics and Enstar sign up, all the expenses will settle on Chugach ratepayers. Is the Beluga gas field depleted?
Good news! The alternative was waiting for the wind to blow, the water to flow, and the sun to shine. All good alternatives for a cabin on the Deshka. Not so good for a metropolis of nearly 400,000. There are elements within our society. I will call them sociopaths. These lost souls serve a god called called policy and procedures. You serve this god at all costs. Bureaucrats, academics, and tyrants comprise the clergy within this false religion.
Time to switch over to coal fired boiler. Unbelievable we can’t get our sh– together to get gas from the north slope. Definitely not going to bother with natural gas at my new home.
And where will this gas be originating from?
Will Chugach invest in this project? They are already financially desperate and trying to increase rates by another 8%. This also reeks of too much control by Hilcorp and maybe the FTC needs to take a look at this one.
No no no!
We must run away from ALL fossil fuels, and use only SUSTAINABLE wind and solar power!
Because as everyone knows, wind turbines and solar panels are ‘sustainable’ because they are financially free and do not depend on any mining or manufacturing, nor have any maintenance and decommissioning costs, being handed down from on High by God himself with no further ancillary costs involved.
Another breath of fresh air!
Clean energy
LNG
I ask again: where is this imported gas going to come from?
This will raise costs to the consumer.
A few new wells in Cook Inlet would be cheaper and safer as the tides and ice in the inlet make shipping risks greater than normal.
What about the whales and shipping?
Let’s hope things go smoothly and that this is very temporary.
So Hilcorp who already has a monopoly on South Central natural gas, now wants to purchase the one main option to import natural gas. No.