Trump announced on September 30 that $50 billion or more of Korea’s $250 billion US investment commitment would go to the Alaska LNG project, a statement Korean officials began rebutting almost immediately. Alaska Public Media reported that Korean officials, meeting state legislators in Anchorage on October 7, said Korea could invest only after Glenfarne Group, the company leading the project, takes a final investment decision, and only after Korea assesses whether the project is commercially reasonable.
Democratic state senator Bill Wielechowski, who attended the meeting, said the message was clear: Korea has not decided to invest in the project. Alaska Public Media described the push as running into long-standing economic hurdles, noting that Alaska LNG could cost twice as much as LNG produced on the US Gulf Coast and more than projects on Canada’s Pacific coast in British Columbia.
Energy consultant Jason Feer of Poten and Partners said he had not seen a buyer willing to pay well above market prices for Alaska gas, and that the project still has a long way to go before reaching a final stage. Seoul is restating the standard it has held all along: investment follows commercial logic, not announcements, and a unilateral White House figure does not change the economics.