BP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are in discussions over a $40bn project to export liquefied natural gas from Alaska to Asia, potentially opening up large but stranded reserves that currently have no route to market.

According to people close to the negotiations, the three companies and state authorities hope to reach agreement next week over a long-running lease dispute at Point Thomson, a large oil and gasfield on Alaska’s North Slope.

A settlement would clear the way for the companies to hasten their commercial assessment of a large gas pipeline to Alaska’s southern coast, from where LNG could be shipped to China and other Asian countries. Sean Parnell, Alaska’s governor and a champion of the project, told the Financial Times he was “cautiously optimistic” that the plan would be able to move forward.