by Alex DeMarban, Anchorage Daily News

Top members of President Donald Trump’s administration visited one of the largest oil fields in North America on Monday and met with dignitaries from Asian countries that are eyeing investments in the $44 billion Alaska LNG project.

The trip to Prudhoe Bay, off Alaska’s northernmost coast, included Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. They were joined by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, oil company executives who are pursuing large oil discoveries and Alaska LNG officials. The Cabinet members’ visit to the North Slope, part of a multiday trip to the state, showed Trump’s commitment to developing Alaska’s oil and gas resources in a state that has often faced high hurdles to drilling, mining and logging, many of the officials said.

The long-sought Alaska LNG project, which would sell vast quantities of liquefied natural gas from the North Slope, also faces skepticism, with some critics saying that its already-steep price tag is likely an underestimate and that taxpayers could be on the hook for federal subsidies for the project.

That criticism was nowhere in sight on the North Slope, where Trump’s energy team led an energetic and lengthy pep rally for Alaska’s oil and gas resources, despite finger-numbing winds.

Near the snow-covered start of the 800-mile pipeline that delivers Alaska oil, they told more than 150 workers they were carrying out Trump’s first-day executive order, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.” The Cabinet officials said they would fight to see development of the Alaska LNG project, which would build another 800-mile pipeline starting near the trans-Alaska pipeline.

Interest in Alaska LNG

On the tour with the Cabinet officials were delegates from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and other countries that could potentially buy natural gas from the Alaska LNG project.

Trump has promoted the Alaska LNG project as an opportunity to rebalance trade deficits with Asian nations that could become customers if the project is ever built.

Takehiko Matsuo, vice minister for international affairs with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said he attended the event after receiving an invitation from the U.S.

“But we are interested in the project” and came to learn more about it, he said. Japan imports about 10% of its energy from the U.S., so there’s room for growth as energy demand rises, he said.

Japan is relatively geographically close to the U.S., which could help reduce shipping time while diversifying shipping routes that bring the country much of its energy imports through the South China Sea, Matsuo said. “And if this energy will be provided in a timely manner, with an economically viable price, then it could be a very good option for us,” he said.

Read the full article