Midterm season just got a liquefied-natural-gas megaphone. President Donald Trump will announce Wednesday that South Korea is channeling $200 billion into U.S. energy projects — including about $54 billion for the long-stalled Alaska LNG venture — a White House official told Reuters.
The package is the first major draw on South Korea’s broader $350 billion strategic investment pledge from last year’s trade deal ($150B shipbuilding + $200B other sectors). White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers framed it as unleashing American energy, unlocking Alaska, and juicing a “nuclear energy renaissance.” Also on the card: eight large-scale nuclear plants and a 6-gigawatt gas-fired power facility in Encinal, Texas.
Alaska LNG’s pitch: an 807-mile pipeline from the North Slope to a southern liquefaction terminal — designed for about 3.9 billion cubic feet of gas per day and up to 20 million metric tons of LNG a year. Alaska’s Mike Dunleavy, Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Rep. Nick Begich are expected at the Oval Office rollout — Sullivan is in a tough Senate race against Democrat Mary Peltola.
Caveat stamped in Seoul ink: South Korea has previously said projects must clear commercial viability reviews. Opposition lawmaker Kim Sung-won told Reuters any huge public burden needs thorough commercial verification first. Japan’s JERA and Tokyo Gas have preliminary offtake deals totaling 2 million tons a year if the project is built; developer Glenfarne has said it still needs more binding volumes for financing.
Sources: Reuters; Al Jazeera; Alaska’s News Source
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