STAK says ExxonMobil signed 15-year gas deal for proposed North Slope computing campus

STAK Energy says it has signed a 15-year deal to buy North Slope natural gas from ExxonMobil for its proposed off-grid computing campus south of Deadhorse.

The Anchorage company announced Thursday that it had signed a gas sale agreement with ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc. STAK says the gas would fuel a new power plant at the campus, called Project Aaka, supporting nearly 3 gigawatts of generation for computing facilities on site.

Earlier descriptions of the project named no gas supplier. When STAK described the project at an energy conference in May, it said only that it was working with North Slope producers.

STAK didn't disclose the price, how much gas ExxonMobil would sell, where it would come from or when deliveries would start. The agreement isn't public, and ExxonMobil hadn't announced it separately by Thursday night.

"Today, that changes," founder Sparrow Mahoney said in the release, referring to the lack of a large market for North Slope gas.

The project still needs state approval. The Department of Natural Resources has made only a preliminary decision to lease STAK about 715 acres along the Dalton Highway, and no final decision had been posted in the state's public record by Thursday.

The gas pipeline would need its own state approval. STAK's development plan envisioned one or more new lines to producing fields 25 to 90 miles away, and STAK would have to apply for the pipeline right of way separately. The project could also need air and water permits, fish-habitat review and a federal wetlands permit, according to DNR's preliminary decision.

STAK's March plan anticipated starting operations in late 2028. The company now targets first power in 2030, with phased expansion through 2032.

STAK hasn't publicly named a computing customer or said how the project would be financed. Mahoney told that May conference that the first phase of power infrastructure alone could cost about $20 billion, not counting the data centers. The state application estimated up to 1,500 construction workers and about 60 operations workers on rotating shifts.

The campus would use all its power on site, without connecting to the Railbelt or any other utility grid, according to both STAK and DNR. STAK says that means no effect on the public grid or ratepayers.