President Donald Trump said Friday that Japan will soon import “historic new shipments” of U.S. liquefied natural gas, seemingly touting the potential of the state’s long-delayed and unbuilt natural gas pipeline.
“We’re talking about the pipeline in Alaska, which is the closest point of major oil and gas to Japan, by far,” Trump said during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. “We’re talking about a joint venture of some type between Japan and us having to do with Alaska oil and gas and it’s very exciting.”
Trump didn’t offer details Friday about his proposal, and the Japanese embassy in the United States did not respond to questions from POLITICO’s E&E News.
But Trump’s comments were welcomed by the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., or AGDC, a state corporation that’s working on a cross-state pipeline and liquefied natural gas export project. Federal energy regulators gave the $44 billion Alaska LNG project a green light almost five years ago, but the effort has faced legal challenges and difficulty securing firm commitments from buyers.
