US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has proposed the idea of storing natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope and shipping it directly. He noted that this proposal has attracted interest from some foreign investors.

“This could be a second project, focusing on that gas field and finding a way to transport it by ship,” Burgum mentioned during an event organized by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a nonpartisan research group in Washington.

To ship the gas, it must first be liquefied at an export facility, which would cost billions to build. The harsh icy conditions of the North Slope may pose challenges for constructing an export plant; however, Burgum pointed out that there are times when a shipping route through the ice is accessible.

The current Alaska LNG project involves constructing a new pipeline about 800 miles (1,288 kilometers) long to transport gas from the North Slope to an export facility in Nikiski, Alaska, as well as to Anchorage, which is experiencing a decline in local gas supplies. The plant is designed to handle 20 million metric tons of gas per year.

The Alaska LNG project is being developed by Glenfarne Group. A spokesperson for Glenfarne has not yet commented on the possibility of shipping gas directly from the North Slope.

This long-discussed Alaska LNG project has been promoted for many years and was revitalized during the Trump administration. The state of Alaska has a financial interest in this project alongside Glenfarne through the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.

Burgum also mentioned this week that the front-end engineering and design study for the project, including the pipeline, is still in progress and might be completed by December. A formal decision to proceed with the Alaska LNG project has not been made yet.