TAIPEI: Taiwan said Wednesday it will inject up to US$4.4 billion in the Alaska LNG project, after US President Donald Trump announced the island's investment in the to-be-built natural gas pipeline.
Taiwan imports nearly all of its energy supply and has sought to shore up Washington's support as China presses its claims of sovereignty over the island democracy.
"According to current plans, the cooperation will include the annual procurement of six million metric tons of Alaska LNG following production," the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement.
It will also involve "participation in project development, with an estimated investment of up to US$4.4 billion," the ministry said.
"If the project progresses smoothly according to the planned timeline, it is expected to begin further supplementing domestic natural gas supplies as early as 2032," it added.
The statement came hours after Trump told a rally in Wasilla, Alaska, that Taiwan had agreed to buy 30 percent of the output from the pipeline over the next 20 year and also invest US$4.4 billion into the project.
Taiwan sources its LNG from multiple countries but the mix has changed dramatically this year after the start of the Middle East war when Iran claimed control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Australia replaced Qatar as Taiwan's biggest supplier of LNG, accounting for 34.8 percent of imports, Taiwanese official data for the first eight months of 2026 show.
Qatari LNG made up 10.7 percent, compared with 35.1 percent in the same period last year, while imports from the United States more than tripled to account for 24.5 percent.
Taiwan's government has previously acknowledged the island's intent to buy LNG from Alaska.
- 'Stability and resilience' -
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said in early 2025 that Taiwan's state-owned energy company CPC Corporation "will procure LNG and seek upstream investment participation rights to secure a stable future energy supply for Taiwan".
"The government's role is to ensure the stability and resilience of the entire energy supply -- I believe this is true for governments around the world," Premier Cho Jung-tai said Wednesday.
"We, of course, are on a very long journey in this regard, and we have been working tirelessly to maintain a stable domestic supply of oil, electricity, and natural gas -- as we have done from the beginning of this year until now."
Trump said the deal "guarantees" the success of the project.
The planned 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) pipeline would transport natural gas extracted from the vast reserves in northern Alaska to the south, where it will be turned into LNG.
Backed by the US group Glenfarne and the state of Alaska, the project will have to overcome technical hurdles and is not expected to be operational before 2030.
Local leaders in Alaska have championed the pipeline for years, but high costs and questions about economic viability had hindered its progress.
Once operational, the LNG produced will be transported via tanker to Asia, its main market, in a relatively short seven to nine-day journey across the Pacific Ocean.
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