SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The northwestern-most U.S. state of Alaska is making serious efforts to become a stable supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG)) for China, according to a top executive from the Alaskan oil and gas industry.
The proposed LNG export is "a beautiful fit" for both Alaska and China and helps solidify ties between the United States and China, Keith Meyer, president of Alaska Gasline Development Corp., told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Talking about reasons why Alaska values the Chinese market for LNG export, Meyer said that the state has rich natural gas resources but limited in-house demand with a tiny population of 750,000.
"China is a very large consuming country with a large population. We need to look at the export market for the demand for LNP," he said.
He made a pitch for a LNP project his company is working on, which is aimed at shipping natural gas developed in Alaska's North Slop to the Asia Pacific market, the Chinese market in particular.
The project, which includes a new liquefaction facility, an 800-mile (about 1,300 km) pipeline and a gas treatment plant, has been developed in order to take benefit from the vast proven natural gas resources in the North Slop, which is nearly 35 trillion cubic feet (about 990 billion cubic meters) in deposits.
Seeing China as a large potential market and partner to this project, high-level meetings with potential Chinese partners have been going on over the past few months and talks are progressing smoothly, Meyer said.
Alaska relies heavily on its resources for revenues, and a large trade deal based on its natural gas resources, if happens eventually, will really support Alaska, he added.
