Trump-Backed Alaska LNG Project Faces Viability Questions in Korea

The Alaska liquefied natural gas (LNG) project has received significant backing from US President Donald Trump, but it still faces viability questions in Korea. The $200 billion investment package proposed by Seoul includes a commitment of around $54 billion to the Alaska LNG project.

Korea's Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan expressed concerns that the commercial reasonableness of the project has not been thoroughly reviewed. He pointed out that the figure changed significantly from the initially discussed $67 billion, and that the U.S. side does not yet have a firmly established project.

The project aims to transport natural gas from Alaska's North Slope through an approximately 1,300-kilometer pipeline to Nikiski, where it would be liquefied and exported primarily to Asian markets. Glenfarne Group owns 75 percent of the project alongside the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. (AGDC). The developer has secured preliminary agreements covering about 13 million tons of annual LNG sales.