06/03/2026
On May 15, Alyeschem broke ground at Prudhoe Bay on what will be the first petrochemical plant in the US Arctic. A facility that will convert North Slope natural gas and carbon dioxide into methanol and hydrogen, produce ultra-low sulfur diesel locally, reduce CO2 emissions by an estimated 93%, and eliminate roughly 4,000 truck trips per year.
But it all started with an idea.
J.R. Wilcox, President and CEO, is a UAF-trained environmental chemist who spent years building expertise in Alaskan oil and gas before co-founding Cook Inlet Energy and eventually starting Alyeschem in 2015. He stood at the groundbreaking last week and told attendees it took eleven years from "this would be a neat idea" to actually putting steel in the ground.
Craig Graff, COO, is a registered professional engineer with a career built entirely in Alaska's oilfields. From Kuparuk to Prudhoe Bay to Northstar, he knows these fields from the inside out. As the manager responsible for Prudhoe Bay's chemical budget, he was directly responsible for the largest methanol spend in Alaska's oilfields. Now he's helping build the plant that will produce that methanol right here at home.
This project was made possible in part through $70 million in financing from AIDEA - Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority matched by private investment from BP Energy Partners and McKinley Alaska Private Investment. That's what patient, strategic capital looks like in action.
This is exactly the kind of Alaskan ingenuity and homegrown expertise that DCCED and our partners at AIDEA are proud to support.
