Taiwan to ramp up purchases of US natural gas this year
Model of natural gas pipeline and U.S. flag, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
TAIPEI, Feb 5 : Taiwan will ramp up its purchases of U.S. natural gas to make up about one-third of its imported supply this year, and reduce purchases from other countries, officials said on Thursday.
Taiwan, which runs a large trade surplus with the U.S., has shown an interest in a potentially enormous new liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Alaska that the Trump administration has been pushing hard to allies in Asia as a supply option.
Taiwan Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin, whose ministry is in charge of energy policy, told reporters in Taipei that Taiwan wants more gas from the United States rather than other countries.
Fang Jeng-zen, chairman of Taiwan's state-owned refiner CPC Corp, said at the same briefing the plan was to get around one-third of imports from the U.S. this year.
"We plan to increase purchases of natural gas from the U.S. to 30 per cent-33 per cent this year from about 10 per cent now," Fang said.
Last March, CPC signed an agreement with Alaska Gasline Development Corp to buy liquefied natural gas and invest in the project, a move Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said would ensure the island's energy security.
The United States has consistently accounted for about 10 per cent of Taiwan's imports of LNG this decade.
Qatar and Australia were its biggest suppliers in 2025, each accounting for one-third of the 23.81 million metric tons in imports, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.
While Qatar's share of Taiwan's LNG market has steadily risen to 33.5 per cent in 2025 from 25 per cent in 2021, Australia's share fell to 33.4 per cent, its lowest since 2021.
