USGS estimates 96 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered North Slope gas

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated Wednesday that Alaska's North Slope holds a mean of 96 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas. The Interior Department says that is nearly three times the roughly 35 trillion cubic feet of proven North Slope reserves.

The agency's fact sheet also says that as of 2026 there is no method for bringing North Slope gas to markets at large commercial scales. It notes that several ways to do so have been proposed, citing 8 Star Alaska's Alaska LNG project.

Alaska LNG would move an average of about 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day through an 804-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to a liquefaction plant in Nikiski, plus a 60-mile line from Point Thomson.

The new estimate covers the whole Northern Alaska Province, from the Brooks Range front to the state-federal offshore boundary about 3 miles out and east to the Canadian border. The range is wide: the fact sheet gives a 95 percent chance of at least 17.3 trillion cubic feet and a 5 percent chance of 276.7 trillion or more. Technically recoverable does not mean the gas would be economic to produce.

The assessment counts both gas found with oil and gas found on its own, across 21 assessment units in three rock layers.

Known gas includes about 25 trillion cubic feet expected from the Prudhoe Bay gas cap, about 8 trillion at Point Thomson and smaller Brooks Range foothills discoveries of 4 billion to 600 billion cubic feet each. Those two big fields are the only ones with approval to supply gas to Alaska LNG, the state's oil regulator told lawmakers in June. Most gas produced with oil is now pumped back into the reservoirs to keep up pressure.

Earlier USGS estimates covered only parts of the province: about 39 trillion cubic feet in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and nearby areas in 2017, and 8.9 trillion for the central North Slope in 2020. Because the areas differ, the new figure is not a direct increase on either.

Interior's release ties the assessment to an executive order President Trump signed on his first day in office on Alaska resource development, and says USGS assessments feed Bureau of Land Management land-use plans and guide industry exploration.

"Alaska's natural gas reserves can supply affordable, reliable, secure energy to Americans and our South Pacific allies for generations," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in the release. USGS Director Ned Mamula said the assessments "point to resources that industry hasn't discovered yet."