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The United States is making a concerted push to expand exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), which faces energy supply instability amid the war in the Middle East.
According to foreign media reports on the 11th, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau put forward this vision while attending the ASEAN Future Forum held in Hanoi, Vietnam, the previous day.
"The current energy crisis has clearly demonstrated the need for countries to diversify their energy resources," Landau said. "The United States seeks to cooperate so that ASEAN member states can not only navigate the current situation but also strengthen their long-term energy security and resilience."
He added that the United States wants to continue partnering with ASEAN to ensure a reliable, affordable and secure energy supply.
Technology cooperation was also raised. Urging ASEAN nations to choose "trusted suppliers" when building information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, Landau stressed, "The choices you make today about your infrastructure partners will determine your security and prosperity for decades to come." He also signaled a willingness to work closely with regional partners such as Vietnam to safeguard a free and open South China Sea.
Behind the U.S. sales push lies the region's urgent circumstances. According to Vietnamese weather authorities, northern regions including Hanoi endured a heat wave last month with daytime highs exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.
As cooling demand surged, the nation's daily electricity consumption broke records day after day starting on the 23rd of last month, soaring to an all-time high of 1.171 billion kWh. Intermittent blackouts also occurred in parts of Hanoi, and power authorities are operating a 24-hour emergency response system.
The outlook from July onward is even bleaker. Weather authorities are forecasting a high likelihood of El Niño this year, leaving Vietnam — which relies heavily on hydroelectric power — facing concerns over reduced generation due to drought.
U.S. energy sales diplomacy does not stop at ASEAN. However, the expansion of U.S. gas in Northeast Asia is driven more directly by trade negotiations than by Middle East conditions. Korea Gas Corporation signed a contract last year, on the occasion of the Korea-U.S. summit, to import a total of more than 33 million tons of U.S. LNG over 10 years starting in 2028.
This is part of fulfilling the pledge made in the Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations to "purchase $100 billion worth of U.S. energy within President Trump's term." Korea's share of LNG imports from the United States, which stood at 12.2% as of 2024, is expected to roughly double by the end of Trump's term.
Japan, too, is expected to nearly triple its long-term LNG contract volumes from North America, from about 5 million tons in 2024 to 14 million tons in 2030, according to the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ).
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