ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A project to export liquefied natural gas directly from Alaska’s North Slope and sell it overseas faces new scrutiny after its director resigned, alleging that a Russian company secretly financed the project despite U.S. sanctions on Russia.

Polar LNG, which has denied the assertions, is separate from the much better known Alaska LNG project, the $50 billion effort President Donald Trump strongly supports and that Alaska leaders have long pursued. Alaska LNG also seeks to export North Slope natural gas, though using an 800-mile pipeline to export the gas from Southcentral Alaska.

Polar LNG officials for months have publicized their plans to import a gas-liquefaction plant to Alaska from Russia after acquiring it from Novatek, Russia’s second-largest gas producer and a privately owned company.

But they have said the roughly $9 billion project must first secure federal regulatory approval, including from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers trade sanctions.

The liquefaction plant is only partially built and was part of Novatek’s Arctic 2 LNG project in the Siberian Arctic, which is under U.S. sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that launched an ongoing war.

Project plans have called for barging the plant to Alaska and installing it in the shallow Chukchi Sea waters near the state’s North Slope oil fields.

The gas would be converted into liquefied natural gas, or LNG, then transferred into icebreaking tankers for sales overseas.

The project appears to have made quick headway after Gentry Beach, who has a history of ties to the Trump family, took early steps last year to use Novatek’s technology.

Whether Beach remains involved in the project is unclear. He didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article.

Polar LNG hopes to start exporting gas from Alaska by 2030.

This year, it opened an office in Midtown Anchorage and secured a state permit for geophysical surveys in state waters of the Chukchi Sea.

Polar LNG has spent heavily on lobbying, and reports contracting with Alaska lobbyist Ashley Reed for $15,000 a month.

CEO resigns over allegations of Novatek investment

Polar LNG faces steep challenges, including new complications after the recent resignation of top officials — including former chief executive Josh Riddle — amid assertions that Novatek had financed the project with $5 million and sought to provide up to $10 million more, according to reporting by The New York Times.

The alleged financing by the Russian company raised concerns of possible U.S. sanctions violations, Riddle said in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News this week.

Tech Wave Industrial Projects Management, based in Abu Dhabi and the parent company for Polar LNG, said in a statement this week that Novatek has not financed the project and the news reports are “misleading.”

A Novatek official also said in an emailed statement to the Daily News that it does not have an ownership stake in the project and did not provide operational funding for it.

Novatek wants to join the project as a minority shareholder and has an agreement with Tech Wave to do so, Polar LNG said.

That’s only if U.S. investors are brought in to assume a majority share in the project, and if the federal government authorizes the stake, it says.

“Novatek has paid part of the purchase price to Tech Wave,” Polar LNG said. “No other payments or funds were made by Novatek.”

Tech Wave did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday about why it’s accepting payment now from Novatek, before the conditions of regulatory approval and U.S. ownership are met.

“All work is conducted in compliance with U.S. law and with the necessary approvals and permits,” Polar LNG said.

Project CEO steps down

Riddle, who says he stepped down last month as the project’s chief executive, raised questions about Novatek’s potential ownership in the project in his resignation letter.

Riddle said in an interview Tuesday that he and other executives resigned amid growing concerns that Novatek had an ownership and leadership role in the company, creating “extremely high levels of sanction risk.”

That risk grew last month when Congress passed an act, named after the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, that increased sanctions on Russia related to the Ukraine war, he said.

Previously, “there was no assertion at any time that (Novatek) would have an ownership stake” in Polar LNG, Riddle said.

The project had focused only on using Novatek’s technology, he said.

“I resigned as chief executive officer of Polar LNG because I felt uncomfortable that the Russian company Novatek was financing and ultimately controlling the strategic direction of the company,” Riddle said.

“My efforts to bring on U.S. investors were frustrated, and when the Lindsey Graham bill passed Congress, I received legal advice suggesting that importing technology from Russia was illegal,” he said.

“Building the LNG facility in Alaska is a very strategic project for the U.S.,” said Riddle, a longtime energy executive who has worked around the world for ExxonMobil, Chevron and other companies. “And as a patriot, I feel this needs to be developed using U.S. technology and funded by U.S. investors, not a Russian company.”

Polar LNG on Friday said that Riddle was “disgruntled” and was terminated.

“The company is investigating claims concerning Riddle that may result in litigation,” Polar LNG said.

Polar LNG has hired a new executive to lead the project, Tim Talkington, a longtime investment banker and former chief executive of Goldman Sachs Bank Russia.

“President Trump’s leadership on U.S. energy dominance is clear, and his commitment to developing Alaska’s North Slope is unwavering,” Polar LNG said in a statement to the Daily News.

“Polar LNG presents a significant opportunity for Alaska and for America’s role in the Arctic — one of the most technologically challenging, but resource rich places on the planet,” Polar LNG said. “The project is at the early stages of development, and will consider all sources of funding, at the appropriate time, as we advance the project in full compliance with U.S. law.”

Novatek project on U.S. sanctions list

Riddle’s resignation letter is addressed to Bjorn Gundersen, a co-owner of Tech Wave and a former Novatek employee.

A legal analysis attached to Riddle’s letter says that Gundersen is not a “blocked person” under U.S. sanctions.

But Gundersen’s ties to Novatek may be creating “potential Russian-related sanctions concerns” within federal agencies, the legal analysis said.

That could affect licensing and regulatory approval for the project, the analysis says.

Novatek ownership also could prompt a federal investigation into the project by the Treasury Department, Riddle’s letter said.

An official with the Treasury Department this week said in a statement that the agency does not “comment on allegations of sanctions violations, but we take potential violations extremely seriously.”

Murkowski, Sullivan: No Polar LNG fans

Polar LNG is among the energy deals that White House officials believe could improve U.S.-Russia relations to help end the Ukraine war, The New York Times reported.

President Vladimir V. Putin discussed the plan with Trump emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during last month’s unsuccessful negotiations in Moscow to end the war.

Trump has temporarily waived the new law’s Russian sanctions to help with those discussions.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in a statement Monday that she will not back projects that support Russia’s war with Ukraine.

“We do not want or need technology or financing from Russia to develop the natural gas resources on our North Slope,” she said. “As Russia continues its bloody war of aggression against Ukraine, I will not support any project that helps finance it. We should instead be focused on implementing and enforcing the sanctions that Congress overwhelmingly passed to choke off the resources Putin relies on to wage his catastrophic war.”

Alaska’s congressional delegation voted for the sanctions law. Murkowski and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan co-sponsored it.

Amanda Coyne, a spokesperson for Sullivan, said “the only natural gas export project in Alaska Senator Sullivan has focused on is the Alaska LNG project, which is closer than it’s ever been.”

“The other project is simply a distraction,” Coyne said.

Sullivan’s campaign said separately that the best way to bring down high energy costs is producing more energy in Alaska, “not easing up on Russia.”

Rep. Nick Begich wants to see Alaska LNG move forward, his office said in an email from Silver Prout, his spokesperson.

“He does not support pursuit of Russian investment for Polar LNG under the present geopolitical and sanctions environment and believes the focus with respect to Russia should remain on ending the war in Ukraine,” the statement said.

A potentially large benefit

The project also faces economic and policy hurdles related to dredging the shallow seafloor off Alaska’s Arctic coast, along with opposition from Alaska Native whalers, Riddle wrote.

Polar LNG said it has held meetings with North Slope whalers and others from the region, and plans to continue to moving the project ahead.

The state permit for geophysical work the project received earlier this year was for limited activity and can be revoked at will, said Lorraine Henry, with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

The agency has followed the “recent media coverage of potential federal and corporate issues associated with the project,” she said in an email.

“If Polar LNG were to apply for additional permits or leases of state land, ownership would be investigated as part of the evaluation required by Alaska statutes,” she said.

Polar LNG does not compete with Alaska LNG, project officials have said. It could bring billions of dollars of private investment, long-term revenue and skilled jobs to the state, they say.

In addition to exports, it’s also looking at delivering natural gas to Southcentral Alaska.

“America has a generational opportunity to advance U.S. energy dominance, unlock profound benefits for the state of Alaska, and strengthen American Arctic navigation,” Talkington, the project’s new chief executive, said in a statement.

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