Qilak LNG, which is hoping to develop a LNG project in Alaska, wants to be part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for rising gas exports from the remote peninsula to Asian markets, its Chief Executive Mead Treadwell told Reuters.
Trump’s administration is pushing to transport gas south from Alaska’s remote north via a $44 billion 1,300-km (800-mile) pipeline, to be shipped as liquefied natural gas to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, in a project known as Alaska LNG.
“There is a lot of excitement between the United States and Japan about natural gas from Alaska,” Treadwell said by phone. “We remind people on the both sides of the Pacific that Texas and Louisiana have multiple LNG projects, and so does Alaska.”
Qilak LNG, with initial targeted capacity of 4 million tones of LNG per year, is talking to the Trump administration about necessary permits and to companies in Japan and South Korea about potential participation in a feasibility study, he said.
“We have invited some people who have an interest in offtake (deals) to be observers of the feasibility study, and they include large and small offtakers in Asia, a potential offtaker in the United States and perhaps two (in the U.S.),” Treadwell said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met with Trump last month and discussed the 20-million-tones-per annum Alaska LNG project. The project’s developers are touring Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Japan this month seeking commitments.
“One is a much larger project. One is a much smaller project,” Treadwell said. “The fact that there are two projects out there doesn’t mean one has to kill the other.”
Qilak LNG is targeting production by early 2033, he added. The project forecasts capital expenditures of $1,000 to $1,250 per ton of liquefaction capacity, according to its recent presentation, or around $4 billion to $5 billion in costs.
“President Trump’s administration is committed to unleashing the full energy potential of Alaska,” a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Energy told Reuters, without specifically mentioning Qilak LNG. “LNG from Alaska has a massive potential.”
Some analysts have questioned whether LNG from Alaska could still be a competitive option if sanctions on Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project are lifted as a result of a peace deal on Ukraine Trump is seeking with Moscow.
“No matter than happens with Russia coming back to the market, it is reasonable to suggest to Asian buyers that they diversify their northern strategy,” Treadwell said.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova in Tokyo; Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)