The Trump administration believes that despite the huge costs, large-scale LNG projects in Alaska will find investors.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has made Alaska LNG a national priority. Alaska has spent years trying to build an 800-mile pipeline from the northern slope above the Arctic Circle to the southern Cook entrance where the gas will be cooled and shipped to our allies in Asia.

But Alaska LNG has never stood out because of the stratosphere price of more than $40 billion. Trump has pushed Japan and South Korea to invest in the project in particular, threatening them with higher tariffs if they don't offer a trade deal that suits him.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC's Brian Sullivan in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. "Countries around the world are looking to narrow their trade deficits with the United States, and of course, it's a very simple way to buy more U.S. energy," Wright said.

However, energy analysts are skeptical about the project. Alaska LNG has “no clear business logic”, Alex Munton, global director of natural gas and liquefied natural gas research at Rapidan Energy, told CNBC in April.

"If you do this, it will be much more support than it has so far, and the project has been on the Planning Commission for decades," said Munton.

Support from the Ministry of Defense

Wright said the project will be built in phases and initially faces a decline in gas supply from Cook’s entrance to the project, amid domestic demand in Alaska. Home Secretary Doug Burgum said the Ministry of Defense is ready to use its resources to support the project.

"They are ready to sign a reception agreement for the pipeline to bring us on a super strategic, important basis across Alaska," Burgum said of the Pentagon in a CNBC interview with Prudhoe Bay.

If completed, Alaska LNG will deliver our gas to Japan in about eight days, while U.S. Gulf Coast exports are about 24 days, which pass through the crowded Panama Canal, Burgum said. This will also avoid disputed waters passing through the Middle East in the South China Sea, the Home Secretary said.

Wright said potential Asian investors have questions about the schedule and logistics of Alaska LNG. Wright said the pipeline may start shipping LNG to southern Alaska in 2028 or 2029, and exports to Asia sometime in the early 2030s.

Glenfarne Group, the project's chief developer, told CNBC in April that it expects a final investment decision to be made on the legs of a proposed pipeline running from the North Slope to Anchorage over the next six to 12 months. Glenfarne is a private developer, owner and operator of energy infrastructure located in New York City and Houston.