Taiwan companies eye Alaska oil, gas, mineral investments

High-level executives of Taiwan energy and investment companies have shown positive preliminary interest in oil exploration and other energy-related investments in Alaska, according to Mike Barry, chairman of the board of the Alaska Industrial Development & Export Authority.

“They were very attentive, mostly getting an overview of the opportunities,” Barry told Petroleum News.

Barry led an Alaska delegation to Taipei in early April for a meeting of the Taiwan-Alaska Trade & Investment Cooperation Council. Barry represents state government as one of two Alaska co-chairs of the council, established by the two governments over a series of trade visits in 2004 to promote Alaska oil and gas, minerals, tourism, seafood, timber and agricultural products.

Taiwan executives saw opportunities for investment in activities on Alaska’s North Slope, upcoming lease sales and opportunities related to the proposed North Slope natural gas line, Barry said.

“The ball is in their court,” Barry said. “We will be alert to respond to any further interest they show.”

Mark Myers, director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, said the quality of the questions the Taiwan executives asked signaled a genuine interest in Alaska oil and gas opportunities. Myers said he presented baseline information about where companies might find investment opportunities in the Alaska oil and gas industry.

Myers said Taiwan companies do make upstream oil and gas investments worldwide. Another promising sign was that the interest came from executives in the highest levels of industry and government, Myers said, adding that chemical, energy and drilling company presidents, and the head of the country’s Bureau of Energy attended the meetings.

Myers said he attended the meetings as a technical expert on the industry for the state, and as such he was not promoting any particular investment. In addition to upstream opportunities, he said, the Taiwan companies were interested in possible future shipments of liquefied natural gas, as well as possibilities for petrochemical industry investments that would take advantage of Alaska’s abundant petrochemical reserves.

Gov. Frank Murkowski has made a considerable effort over the course of his administration to expand trade with Taiwan, Alaska’s fifth largest trading partner.

“While we already sell nearly $20 million worth of products to Taiwan each year, I believe there is considerable room to expand on this important relationship,” Murkowski said. “By helping expose more of Taiwan’s people to Alaska’s wealth of resources and products, we can continue to encourage natural resource development, including our oil, gas and minerals.”

Frank Roppel, a longtime Alaska forest products industry executive, represents Alaska’s private sector as the second co-chair of the council.

—Steve Sutherlin