On Tuesday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy met with South Korean Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun to discuss the Alaska LNG project and explore potential energy and trade partnerships. This comes as the U.S. Administration aims to attract Asian investors for the $44-billion LNG export project in Alaska.
Governor Dunleavy, along with other state representatives and energy officials, has been visiting key North Asian allies—Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea—to highlight the benefits of Alaska’s LNG for Asian markets.
The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) is working to advance the project, which aims to deliver natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope to local residents and export LNG to U.S. allies across the Pacific.
The project has strong backing from the Trump Administration, which is also encouraging Japan and South Korea to purchase more LNG to help reduce America’s trade deficit with its Asian partners.
Governor Dunleavy recently stated that the Alaska LNG project could start exporting by 2030.
Last week, Taiwan’s state-owned CPC Corporation signed a letter of intent to invest in the Alaska LNG project and purchase LNG from it. This deal is part of Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its gas supply and energy security. The preliminary agreement between CPC and AGDC was signed in the presence of Governor Dunleavy.
If completed, Alaska LNG would become Taiwan’s nearest LNG supply source among all U.S. export facilities. The fuel would not need to pass through the Panama Canal, reducing shipping time, lowering voyage risks, and improving the reliability of Taiwan’s natural gas supply, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.
While Asian partners are showing interest in Alaska LNG, Japanese companies have expressed concerns about the project’s high costs, especially considering the cold climate in Alaska and the scale of the pipelines required to make the project viable.
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