Taiwan advances talks to buy 30% of planned Alaska LNG output

Taiwan is advancing negotiations to buy 6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from the proposed Alaska LNG project and is considering an investment of up to US$4.4 billion, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said Wednesday.

The statement followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement at a Tuesday rally in Wasilla, Alaska, that Taiwan had agreed to purchase 30% of the project’s output for 20 years. The planned facility is expected to produce as much as 20 million tonnes annually, making the stated purchase equivalent to 30% of its output.

The ministry said state-owned CPC Corp would make the purchases when production begins, in line with a letter of intent signed in March 2025, and would participate in the project’s development. It said specific investment arrangements, ownership stakes and other terms remain subject to negotiations and commercial contracting. The ministry did not confirm that a binding sale-and-purchase agreement had been signed.

The project includes a roughly 1,300-kilometre pipeline carrying natural gas from northern Alaska to a southern liquefaction and export facility. Developers are targeting first exports in 2031, while Taiwan’s ministry said supplies could reach the island as early as 2032.

Taiwan, which imports nearly all its energy, has sought to increase US LNG purchases and diversify supply routes. Gas shipped from Alaska could travel directly across the Pacific without passing through the Panama Canal or taking a longer route around Africa.