Opportunities for the export of large quantities of natural gas to Asia were discussed at a meeting between Alaska's Governor Parnell and the Chief Executive Officer and President of Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS).

The first meetings with Mr. Choo occurred back in September, during Governor Parnell’s trade mission to Japan and the Republic of Korea. Monday’s meeting is a follow-up of those earlier talks.

The Governor’s talks on Monday, were a continuation of the administration’s efforts the drum up interest from the governments and utilities along Asia’s Pacific Rim in Alaska’s North Slope natural gas. This newest meeting with the world’s largest liquid natural gas buyer, that supplies gas to power plants, gas utilities and other buyers around the world,was also utilized to bring the Corporation up to speed, giving them updates on the LNG export project.

No doubt a precursor to the state’s LNG export project Mr. governor’s announcement on Friday of his proposal for the inclusion of $355 million financial package designed to jumpstart the construction of a North Slope LNG plant and Fairbanks area natural gas distribution system. included in that package is $30 million in existing data storage tax credits. Along with the proposal, the governor also intends to introduce legislation for providing financial support for the infrastructure through the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. The construction of that infrastructure would bring natural gas to Fairbanks, other interior and river communities, and as far south as South Central Alaska.

Although the three major North Slope oil producers, BP, Conoco Phillips and Exxon Mobil envision having a liquid notification plant at or near a port along the Gulf of Alaska, putting some of Alaska’s money into a preliminary system could convince the private sector to construct the pipeline to bring the stranded natural gas from the North Slope to a southern port in Alaska for export to Asia.

The Parnell administration also announced on Monday that they were holding meetings with a variety of other potential buyers to discuss the advantages of Alaska’s gas.

In a press release, the governor stressed the importance of Monday’s meetings. “These efforts are critical because an Alaska project must compete with other large-scale LNG projects under development around the world,” Governor Parnell said. “We have stability and reliability working in our favor, and a vast untapped supply, yet we must remain aware of proposed projects in other areas with access to the Pacific Rim.”