Polar LNG president: “This will create a huge opportunity” for U.S. jobs and economic growth

Joel Riddle, president of Polar LNG, said development of Alaska’s North Slope gas resources could generate significant economic benefits for both the state and the broader U.S. economy.

“When you monetize the gas… that’s gonna immediately generate tax revenues and royalties,” Riddle said, adding that the project would also create “direct and indirect jobs that will come out of that development.”

Riddle compared the potential impact to past energy booms, pointing to the Permian Basin as an example of long-term economic transformation. “Go walk around Midland, Texas today… it’s booming,” he said, attributing that growth to decades of energy development.

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He said a similar effect could occur in Alaska over time. “That same kind of thing can happen in the North Slope in the decades ahead,” Riddle said, citing increased tax revenue, job creation, and broader economic activity.

Riddle said the project’s benefits would extend beyond Alaska by creating opportunities for workers across the U.S. energy sector. “This is an opportunity for these workers… in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas… to have another hotbed take off,” he said, describing the potential for “good high paying jobs” tied to the project.

He also emphasized the scale of planned investment. “Phase one of our project is eight to $9 billion… that’s direct investment,” Riddle said, adding that the project could create “thousands of new direct jobs and potentially thousands more of indirect jobs.”

Beyond economics, Riddle said the project aligns with broader national strategy goals.

“The Trump administration has been very clear… around accelerating energy dominance… and… Arctic leadership,” he said, adding that the project supports both objectives.

Riddle said the project is also designed to support additional development in the region rather than compete with other efforts. “We want to operate with an abundance mentality where all the projects that come behind us succeed,” he said.

He said long-term success would include large-scale production and regional growth.

“We want to see… 21 million tons online and producing,” Riddle said, along with increased population and economic activity in Alaska’s North Slope.

Riddle leads Polar LNG, which is developing a multi-phase liquefied natural gas project in Alaska aimed at expanding U.S. energy exports and supporting global supply needs.