Donning hard hats, bright safety vests and goggles, dozens of North Slope oil workers gathered in freezing conditions to hear from a trio of high level Trump administration officials on Monday.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin touted the work underway to develop oil and gas in Alaska.
The event began with a prayer from Crawford Patkotak, chairman of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. Patkotak spoke of how oil wealth changed the lives of the Inupiat people in his community, referencing the Christian hymn, “Oil in My Lamp.”
“All them years our Eskimo people were singing, ‘give me oil in my land,’” Patkotak said. “And the Lord is faithful, so we got a lot of oil under our feet. Thank God for that resource, and that resource has changed the lives of the Inupiaq people from third world conditions.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan travelled with the Trump officials, and said it was notable for so many cabinet-level staff to be in the state for so long.
“This is the dream team, man,” Sullivan said. “This is the best our country's had in terms of energy.”
The group was there to promote Alaska’s position as a source of petroleum for export, and to focus on removing barriers to developing the state’s energy resources. Specifically, they advocated for boosting oil flow down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and construction of a new pipeline to transport North Slope natural gas to markets overseas.
The gasline would run parallel to the oil pipeline for much of its 807-mile route and would take natural gas from the North Slope to a port in Nikiski. Wright said oil is the most used energy source on the planet and natural gas is the fastest growing. He said President Trump wants to increase the production of both in Alaska.
“If we free Alaska and the people here, we're going to more than double the oil flow through the pipeline and build the big, beautiful twin, the natural gas pipeline from the North Slope,” Wright said.
It wasn’t just American government officials on the tour. Foreign energy delegates from several Asian countries, including Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines and South Korea were visiting the pump station, with U.S. officials hoping the quality of the oil pipeline would encourage foreign support for the gasline.
The challenge, as always, is finding the money. Building a gasline in Alaska has been the goal of Alaska officials for decades, but the cost is currently estimated to be $44 billion.
Wright said the Alaska gas export project has an advantage compared to competing projects in other countries.
“You need to build a pipeline here that you don't for other natural gas projects,” Wright said. “The flip side is all of the gas production needed to completely fill that pipeline, it's already flowing from existing wells. It's just re-injected under the ground. So you don't need to develop a gas field to feed this pipeline.”
Burgum deflected a question about whether the federal government might help fund the project. He said he thinks the state is in a better position to invest, since it has a sovereign wealth fund: The Alaska Permanent Fund.
“The suggestion is we probably should think about creating one,” Burgum said. “But if we had one, it might make a lot of sense for us to make investments in industries that are strategic to our economy and to our national defense. That could make a lot of sense.”
All three officials cheered the president’s goal of more energy production.
“It's the foundation of prosperity for our country,” Burgum said. “It's also the foundation of prosperity for our allies. And when we can have enough energy for ourselves and then sell energy to our friends and allies, they don't have to buy it from our adversaries.”
While Trump officials touted oil and natural gas development in Alaska, they downplayed the potential for renewable energy. Recently, Interior officials paused more than $150 million for renewable projects in the state, including a wind energy project in Kotzebue. Burgum said those projects are currently under review.
“One of the challenges, if you've got alternatives, wind and solar are intermittent,” Burgum said. “They're highly subsidized. They're not profitable. Particularly, wind doesn't seem to scale. Solar could, over time.”
The three Trump officials are also participating in Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s sustainable energy conference, being held in Anchorage through Thursday.
