Alaska LNG filings move first gravel and camp work from 2026 to 2027

8 Star Alaska now plans to start Alaska LNG's first construction work, gravel pits, camp pads and pipe yards along the pipeline route, in 2027. In February, the company told federal regulators that work would begin April 15. No public filing calls the change a delay or gives a reason.

Glenfarne Alaska LNG owns 75% of 8 Star, and the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation owns the remaining 25%.

The company's Feb. 5 plan to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said construction was "currently expected to be April 15, 2026 for Early Works activities." On June 18, company President Adam Prestidge told the commission, "8 Star plans to commence construction at early works locations during the 2026 field season."

An Oct. 2 letter to Natural Resources Commissioner John Crowther, filed to support converting the project's state leases, said, "Civil contractors will mobilize in 2027." Their first tasks would be developing gravel sites, installing or upgrading camp pads and putting in pipe storage yards for the first pipe deliveries. The company's public filings with the commission do not give a 2027 start date. In May, Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval said the company was targeting construction of the in-state pipeline in the first quarter of 2027.

The monthly status report filed Thursday lists only planning work and field surveys for October and the coming month, and says no onsite construction was performed. The company still must ask the commission for written authorization to proceed before building.

A Nov. 4 letter to the commission, answering a request for more cultural resource information, lists 332 early work components on about 7,224 acres, down from 400 components on about 7,890 acres in June. The drop tracks 77 access road components covering 790 acres that no longer appear in the table, though the letter still lists access roads among the activities. The new list adds eight railroad spurs and one material site, where gravel is dug.

Prestidge said the work was "updated to reflect current construction plans." He said historic properties would be avoided with a 500-foot buffer where practicable, with a qualified professional monitoring the work where avoidance isn't possible. The letter's maps and site tables are filed as privileged, and the public filings do not say which places are affected.

The project's April report to the U.S. Department of Energy targets pipeline completion in 2028 and first gas in 2029. Its Oct. 1 report kept those targets. The filings do not say whether the later start changes those dates.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources proposed Oct. 23 to convert the project's conditional right-of-way leases to full leases. The proposed decision says conversion does not grant permission to start construction, which still requires written notice from the state. Hearings are scheduled online Nov. 23 and in person Nov. 24 in Anchorage. Written comments on the lease conversion are due by 5 pm Nov. 25.