The decision in May by Tulsa-based Williams to shrug away from a $1+ billion pipeline project did not go unnoticed by an administration focused on strengthening the nation’s critical energy infrastructure. Williams fought its battle for nearly two years before raising the white flag. Alberta-based TC Energy’s on-again, off-again $8 billion Keystone XL extension has played out like a bad romance and, not surprisingly, is back on ice. The biggest hurdle these projects have faced—or are facing—is gaining water permits from state environmental regulators.

After 20 years of planning, patience and persistence, the proposed Donlin Gold Project has taken another step forward in the permitting process to construct a massive, integrated mining infrastructure on a site in the Alaskan Yukon. An average 100 permits will be required to get the project off the ground. Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources recently announced it has launched a review of a right-of-way lease to build a 315-mile natural gas pipeline that will extend from Alaska’s Cook Inlet to the village of Crooked Creek, an area closest to the proposed mine.