Posted on 10/22/2026 8:42:21 AM PDT by Red Badger
America's Treasure Chest just cracked open a little wider. On Wednesday, The United States' Geological Survey (USGS) announced a new assessment of resources on Alaska's vast North Slope, indicating another 3 trillion cubic feet (TCFG) of technically recoverable natural gas. That is, by current usage, about three years worth of American supply. It's also another reason to get Alaska's natural gas pipeline completed.
The USGS first announced the find on X.
World-class science. Extraordinary energy potential. @USGS estimates 96 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas on Alaska’s North Slope. Interior science is helping reveal the resources that could power America’s future. https://t.co/UplDWVkZ5F
— U.S. Department of the Interior (@Interior) October 21, 2026 There's also a press release with more detail.
The U.S. Geological Survey released an assessment estimating 96 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable, undiscovered natural gas resources on Alaska’s North Slope.
This is nearly three times the roughly 35 trillion cubic feet (TCFG) of proven gas reserves on the North Slope.
Three times previous estimates. That is, as someone once said, a big freaking deal. This is a huge resource, as noted right around three times the previous estimates of North Slope gas resources. That's a lot of homes heated, a lot of meals cooked, a lot of electricity generated.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, along with his assistant secretary Andrea Travnicek, also lauded the find.
“Alaska is one of America’s greatest energy frontiers, and President Trump is committed to unlocking its extraordinary potential,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. “Alaska’s natural gas reserves can supply affordable, reliable, secure energy to Americans and our South Pacific allies for generations, and this assessment helps underscore the importance of understanding these vast resources beneath the North Slope and using world-class American science to turn that potential into opportunity. By advancing responsible energy development, we can strengthen American Energy Dominance, create jobs and deliver lasting economic benefits for Alaskans and the entire nation."
“This North Slope assessment, backed by the world-class science of the USGS, supports President Trump’s Executive Order 14153 signed the first day of this administration: Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential. Alaska’s untapped, abundant energy and mineral resources are needed for U.S. economic and national security, and for the benefit of Alaskans. Under Secretary Burgum’s Order 3422, we will continue to prioritize investigation of Alaska’s energy and mineral resources,” said Assistant Secretary of the Interior Andrea Travnicek.
Here's the thing: This isn't just good for Alaska, although it is; every new find means more jobs in Alaska, more economic activity, more prosperity. Alaska's economy relies heavily on energy development, and the Trump administration has cranked that up. This is, however, also good for the United States. Every new find, every new assessment of recoverable resources, raised the supply, and just like petroleum and diesel fuel, both big concerns at the moment, natural gas is a global commodity.
We should also remember how Democrat administrations have handled this kind of thing: Locking up Alaska's resources, treating the Great Land like a gigantic national park. Those days are over, thankfully, and in just a few days, we'll have the chance to vote to keep them that way.
As of this writing, natural gas (NGAS) is up slightly, trading at $2.8174. And, no, we're still not tired of winning yet. Drill, baby, drill!
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Democrats deeply saddened.
Drill, baby, drill.
Get the damn pipeline built. We should be building it already. The economics make sense. The people of Alaska want it. They could get this done in 3 years.
Its about an 8 months supply for the whole planet.
“Seward’s Folly” continues to prove its worth ...
I’m 82...that’s what I always remember learning
They left off “EARTH KILLING!!!!”
Activist federal judges being shopped…..
Then if we use it for just U.S. citizens it's 17 years supply.
Universe killing.
It’s funny how they parrot back the same words.
I’ve heard the remote Arctic lands of Alaska referred to as “pristine” by multiple people.
I figure that talking points are distributed and people are told to use that word.
And the implication being ,,that evil Republicans will despoil the environment, if we extract natural resources.
Don’t worry, folks. Gang Green will do everything in their power to put a stop to this. Remember: they want you freezing and starving in the dark. Mostly, they want you dead. Return the favor.
Gold, other metals, petroleum, natural gas, coal, fish, no Soviet presence in North America ...
The purchase of Alaska ranks second only to the Louisiana Purchase in order of “most important peaceful US foreign policy actions”.
The way I learned it is history shows that Seward knew what he was doing, and his contemporary detractors were foolish.
Is he even mentioned in today’s school history textbooks? Perhaps a younger FReeper can shed some light on that.
Oh, okay! 😂👍
how did you calculate that number?
American citizens constitute about 4% of the world's population. The inverse of 4% is 25. Assuming your post #11 is correct that this nat gas find would supply the world about 8 months, I multiplied 8 by 25 to induce that this find would supply American citizens for 200 months. Divided by 12 it rounds to 17 years worth of supply if it were used for only American citizens.
This is good news, but, a slight caution should be added: These are not PROVEN recoverable reserves, they are what USGS calls “undiscovered resources”, sort of like “we estimate they are there”.
Maybe we’ll be really lucky and the estimate is low. :-)
The U.S. uses about 33 trillion a year, it’s less than a three-year supply just for us.
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