South Korea may soon find itself financially tied to both sides of a North American LNG contest, with its state gas company already owning part of Canada’s newly expanded export project as Washington prepares to direct Korean investment toward a competing development in Alaska.
President Donald Trump is expected Wednesday to announce plans involving about $54 billion from South Korea’s pledged US investment package, according to Reuters, which cited two people familiar with the discussions. The money would support the proposed Alaska LNG project and other US investments, rather than necessarily going entirely to the Alaska development.
The prospective announcement comes immediately after Shell and its partners approved a $33 billion Phase 2 expansion of LNG Canada in Kitimat, British Columbia. The project will double capacity from 14 million to 28 million tonnes per year, with commercial operations expected in the early 2030s.
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Among those partners is Korea Gas Corp. which owns 5% of LNG Canada. Shell holds 40%, Petronas 25%, PetroChina 15%, and Mitsubishi 15%. KOGAS already receives LNG tied to its ownership position in the Canadian project.
Alaska LNG is a proposed $44.5 billion to $54.5 billion development built around an approximately 800-mile pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope to an export terminal in Nikiski. Glenfarne Group owns 75%, while the state of Alaska retains 25%.
The project targets 20 million tonnes of LNG production annually and first exports in 2031. Reuters reported that Glenfarne has agreements covering about 13 million tonnes per year but still needs another 3 million tonnes, along with conversion of existing commitments into binding contracts, to secure financing. Most current agreements remain non-binding.
Reuters separately noted that Alaska LNG faces competition from Canadian LNG projects serving Asian markets.
The potential Korean financing comes from a broader $350 billion US investment commitment tied to the US-South Korea trade agreement. The White House previously said $150 billion is designated for shipbuilding and another $200 billion for strategic investments. The agreement also states South Korea would not be required to provide more than $20 billion in US dollar funding in any single year.
For now, the Alaska allocation remains reported rather than finalized. But if completed, South Korea would have financial exposure to two major Pacific-facing LNG projects competing to deliver North American gas to Asia.
