Leaked AGDC document on Glenfarne clawback draws scrutiny at LNG hearing

After completing procedural votes and establishing conference powers, Alaska Gasline Development Corporation and Glenfarne officials used the opening of Friday's House Bill 381 conference committee hearing to address a confidential AGDC draft document that had circulated publicly, describing how the state could remove Glenfarne as the Alaska LNG lead developer.

The Document and Its Contents

AGDC Commercial Director Matt Kissinger opened the AGDC presentation by acknowledging the document directly. "I think everyone knows what I'm talking about with respect to a stolen AGDC document, confidential document," Kissinger said, characterizing the circulation as theft. He said the document outlined a paid clawback mechanism the state could exercise if Glenfarne missed development milestones, distinct from abandonment provisions that carry no payment to the developer. Kissinger said he had disclosed the paid clawback concept in public testimony at a Legislative Budget and Audit meeting in April 2025.

AGDC President Frank Richards said the document was a draft prepared for the AGDC board during negotiations with Glenfarne. "There is commercially sensitive information in there about other parties that we would find, again, would breach our confidentiality agreements with those other parties," Richards said, noting the draft also contained information about other parties considered during the lead developer selection process. Senator Bert Stedman recommended AGDC redact and release a version of the document given how widely it had already circulated. Kissinger said AGDC would need a copy first. "Senator Steadman, through the Chair, if you would be willing to provide us with a copy of that document, then we can consider redacting it and reviewing it. But as of now, we've only been able to to look at that document. We don't have our own copy of that document."

Glenfarne's Response

Glenfarne Alaska LNG President Adam Prestidge confirmed the company would continue pursuing the project despite the leak. He said Glenfarne would not seek credit for any legislative tax abatement in a buyout calculation. "We would not ask for any numerical value to be assigned based on the implementation of a tax arrangement," Prestidge said. He added that the leak raised a broader concern. "It creates a little bit of a hesitation around how we will be able to trust certain confidentiality protections," Prestidge said, noting that Asian buyers, investors, and the federal government are tracking the committee process daily.

Glenfarne holds 75 percent of the approximately $44 billion Alaska LNG project. AGDC holds the remaining 25 percent. The conference committee also received a sectional overview of HB 381 as passed by the Senate Finance Committee, covering the bill's tax abatement period, alternative volumetric tax structure, municipal impact grants, utility buyer protections, and governance provisions for AGDC. A Department of Revenue economic modeling presentation followed later in the hearing.