Japanese trading giant Mitsui, which has investments in LNG projects globally, could consider supporting a planned $44-billion LNG export project in Alaska, Mitsui’s chief financial officer Tetsuya Shigeta told Reuters on Monday.
The trading house hasn’t made any decisions on the project yet, the executive added.
Shigeta also hopes that an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru could bolster relations and boost Japanese presence in the United States.
Japan could be open to discussing backing the $44-billion gas pipeline and LNG export project in Alaska to avoid President Trump’s tariffs, Reuters reported last week, citing officials in Tokyo with knowledge of the matter.
Japan, the world’s second-largest LNG importer, as well as other U.S. trade partners in Asia, are considering buying more LNG and other energy products from the United States.
Since winning the U.S. presidential election in November, President Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on countries that don’t buy more U.S. energy and with which the U.S. has large trade deficits.
JERA, the largest LNG buyer in Japan, plans to boost purchases from the United States to diversify its supply portfolio, a top company executive told Reuters last month.
Japan is ready to explore possible backing of the Alaska LNG project and other commitments to buy more U.S. LNG if asked, the officials told Reuters.
President Trump issued an executive order on Day One to unleash “Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential,” which includes “prioritize the development of Alaska’s LNG potential, including the permitting of all necessary pipeline and export infrastructure related to the Alaska LNG Project, giving due consideration to the economic and national security benefits associated with such development.”
State firm Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC) seeks to advance the Alaska LNG project, which is designed to deliver North Slope natural gas to Alaskans and export LNG to U.S. allies across the Pacific.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
