US plans Alaska LNG summit, urges Japan, South Korea to support

25/4/2025 6:26

President Donald

Trump's energy security council plans to host a summit in Alaska

in early June, when it hopes Japanese and South Korean officials

will announce commitments to the Alaska LNG project, a source

familiar with the matter said on Thursday.



Trump has touted the $44 billion Alaska liquefied natural

gas project, which would deliver gas from the state's North

Slope fields via an 800-mile (1,300 km) pipeline for domestic

use and send it to customers in Asia as LNG, bypassing the

Panama Canal.



While the project has been talked about for years, progress

has been limited by cost and the amount of work needed.



Trump, who has pushed allies to buy U.S. energy while

simultaneously threatening trade tariffs, has asked Japanese

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to support the Alaskan plan.



Last month, Taiwanese state energy company CPC Corp signed a

non-binding agreement with the state-run Alaska Gasline

Development Corp, to buy LNG and invest in the project, a move

Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said would ensure the island's

energy security.



The summit being planned by Trump's National Energy

Dominance Council, which wants to maximize production of oil and

gas, would take place around June 2. It was first reported by

The New York Times.



The White House and the Interior Department did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.



Separately, officials from Thailand, which could also be a

consumer of the LNG from Alaska, and South Korea are expected to

visit the state to talk about the project sometime in the next

two weeks, said the source who spoke on the condition of

anonymity.



It would be the first visit to Alaska by officials from

Thailand to talk about the project in Trump's second

administration.