Trump announces Taiwan has agreed to buy 30% of Alaska pipeline gas and to invest $4.4 billion
During a rally in Wasilla, the U.S. president announced that Taiwan has agreed to buy 30% of the output of a planned Alaska gas pipeline over 20 years and will invest $4.4 billion; the pipeline is about 1,300 km long.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening during a campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska, that Taiwan has agreed to buy a 30 percent share of the gas to be transported via a proposed pipeline over the next twenty years, and that it will invest $4.4 billion in the project.
Trump said during the rally: "Taiwan has just agreed to buy 30 percent of the gas transported through the pipeline over the next twenty years."
The planned pipeline is expected to stretch about 1,300 kilometers, to transport natural gas from the large reserves in northern Alaska to the south where it will be converted into liquefied natural gas.
Trump added that Taipei will participate in financing the project with $4.4 billion, and noted that the move comes as Taipei seeks to curry favor with Washington amid tensions with China, which considers the self-governing island part of its territory.
Taiwan imports most of its energy needs, and official data show that about 38 percent of its natural gas imports come from Australia, 25 percent from Qatar, and just under 10 percent from the United States.
