By Gram Slattery and Bo Erickson
WASILLA, Alaska, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan has agreed to buy 30% of the liquefied natural gas from a pipeline project in Alaska, US President Donald Trump told a rally in the state on Tuesday, but the deal terms were not immediately clear.
Taiwan has committed to investing $4.4 billion in the development of the pipeline, said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who also appeared at the rally organized by the Republican National Committee.
Taiwan's economy ministry, which is in charge of energy policy, had no immediate comment.
Asked about Trump's comments, Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters that the government's job is to "stabilize the entire energy supply and build its resilience, like governments everywhere."
Trump's remarks come after Taiwan officials said in February they would ramp up purchases of US natural gas to constitute about a third of the island's imported supply this year, and reduce purchases from other countries.
Taiwan state energy firm CPC Corp signed an agreement with Alaska Gasline Development Corp last year to buy LNG and invest in the pipeline project. Alaska's governor said last year that Taiwan signed a letter of intent to buy 6 million metric tons of LNG per annum from the project.
The investment would ensure Taiwan's energy security, President Lai Ching-te said at the time. Trump's comments did not make it clear whether a final deal had been signed.
UP TO 20 MILLION TONS OF LNG EXPORTS A YEAR
Last year, Taiwan Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an visited the site of the proposed LNG project in Alaska that the Trump administration has been pushing hard to allies in Asia as a supply option.
If built, the Alaska LNG project will export up to 20 million tons of the superchilled gas a year.
So far it has lined up agreements covering 13 million tons a year from buyers in Asia and French major TotalEnergies. It needs agreements for another 3 million tons and must turn them into binding deals in order to line up financing for the project.
It would open direct access for US-made LNG to Asian markets including Taiwan without having to go through the Panama Canal or around the Horn of Africa, reducing transit time and costs.
Taiwan has pledged to massively ramp up its purchases from the United States, including energy, to reduce a yawning trade surplus that has angered Washington.
Trump said last month that South Korea had agreed to invest in the $54 billion pipeline for the Alaska LNG project, but Seoul said it was not yet set in stone.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Wasilla, Alaska; Additional reporting by Bo Erickson in Washington and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Tom Hogue, Clarence Fernandez and Jamie Freed)
