The US invites officials from Japan and South Korea to Alaska to discuss the $44 billion natural gas pipeline project.

On May 23, two sources familiar with the plans revealed that the United States has invited officials from Japan and South Korea to Alaska to discuss cooperation, including a large-scale natural gas pipeline project. Many Asian governments are considering investing in the United States in an effort to ease the pressure on President Trump’s tariff policy. The Trump administration’s head of energy affairs, Home Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, will host the June 2 event, sources said. The event will include a visit to Alaska’s remote North Slope region, where the U.S. is trying to develop untapped gas fields through a proposed $44 billion pipeline project, one of the sources said. The natural gas will be transported through the 800-mile (about 1,300-kilometer) pipeline through Alaska, mainly to customers in Asia, before being liquefied. But the Alaska meeting is unlikely to reach a major deal on the long-delayed pipeline project, as initially expected, and the size and level of foreign involvement is unclear, sources said.