Alaskan officials to seek investors in Asia as Trump touts LNG

TOKYO - Alaska’s governor and state representatives will visit Japan and three other Asian territories starting this week to court investors for a natural gas project US President Donald Trump says could pump trillions of dollars into the US, although Japanese energy firms remain sceptical.

Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) and development partner Glenfarne Group will visit allied Asian territories “to update industry leaders on Alaska LNG’s (liquefied natural gas) economic and strategic competitive advantages, and discuss opportunities for participation”, said AGDC spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick.

The officials want to transport gas south from Alaska’s remote north via a US$44 billion (S$58.5 billion) 1,300km pipeline, to be shipped as LNG to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

The trip, which Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy will also be taking, runs from March 19 to 30, with visits to Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.

“He’s going to be going over there to hold high-level discussions with the leaders in all those countries and corporate executives to talk about the pipeline,” said Mr Jeff Turner, Mr Dunleavy’s spokesman.

“If we can get a pipeline project going, we can certainly be a steady supplier of LNG to the Pacific Rim.”

Mr Dunleavy said last week that exports could begin by 2030 and deliver about 99 million cubic metres of gas per day.

Mr Trump is pushing energy sales to Asian allies while threatening trade tariffs, reviving Alaska’s stalled LNG ambitions.

On Feb 7, he asked Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for support, and on March 4, South Korea agreed to discuss the project.

The same day, Mr Trump told Congress that Japan and South Korea wanted to partner on Alaskan LNG.

The “project has tremendous support and momentum. We expect commitments from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries across Asia