The top U.S. energy officials will host on June 2 an event with officials from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan to tout the $44-billion Alaska LNG project for which the United States is seeking Asian investors, sources with knowledge of the plans told Reuters on Friday.
State firm Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) seeks to advance the Alaska LNG project, designed to deliver North Slope natural gas to Alaskans and export LNG to U.S. allies across the Pacific.
U.S. officials toured Asia earlier this year in search of potential Asian investors in the LNG project. The LNG export facility is strongly supported by the Trump Administration, which has been also pressing Japan and South Korea to buy more LNG as a way to reduce America’s trade deficit with its Asian allies.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright will host the June 2 event in Alaska. However, the visit is unlikely to result in major investment deals for the Alaska LNG project, as it is not clear yet how senior the Asian officials will be, according to Reuters’s sources.
In March, Taiwan’s state-held oil and gas company CPC Corporation signed a letter of intent to invest in Alaska LNG and buy LNG from the project as part of a move to bolster its gas supply and energy security.
Despite the commitments to invest in the U.S., including in Alaska LNG, Taiwan was slapped with a now-halted 32% tariff. Taiwan wasn’t spared from one of the highest now-suspended tariffs despite being the only early committed investor in the huge Alaska LNG project, while Japan and South Korea are hesitating.
Taiwan is so far the only Asian country to have committed investments and backing to the Alaska LNG project despite the state of Alaska and the Trump Administration’s weeks-long courting of investors from north Asia, such as Japan and South Korea.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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