The world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock, Inc., has send emissaries to Alaska in the past, but in the past few weeks, Alaska has had two different visits from groups representing the behemoth investment firm, which has assets under management that dwarf the gross domestic product of several countries.
Founded in 1988, BlackRock has grown into the world’s largest asset manager, with $10 trillion in assets under management as of January 2022. $10 trillion in assets, for comparison, is one third the size of the national debt of the United States. BlackRock operates globally with 70 offices in 30 countries.
So when Blackrock corporate types visit Alaska, people notice. When they show up the document room of the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, people start talking.
When the CEO of Blackrock goes on the CNBC “Mad Money” show with Jim Cramer, and says he is working on a gasline project in Alaska, heads turn.
The interview with Cramer had steered toward the issue of climate change, corporate responsibility, and what that means for investors and companies. Here’s that section of the transcript of the show, where Larry Fink, who founded Blackrock, talks about the need for America to become the exporter of energy in the world, and specifically talks about a “project” his company is working on in Alaska:
“There’s no question climate risk is going to be, we’re gonna have a lot of investment risk in climate change, and we’re already seeing them the valuations of emerging countries already where you’re having these incredible heat spells. You’re seeing that right now. In fact, I could say at BlackRock that we have more employees in in our London office since since Covid. And you know why? We have air conditioning in our offices and they don’t have air conditioners at home. I mean it just,” Fink said.
Cramer interrupted for a moment, “Right but these are things, these are all part—”
Fink continued, “Our behavior changes are happening, and we have to be prepared for that. And the only way we have to be prepared to tackle this we have to aggressively invest in new technologies for decarbonization. But at the same time, we have to aggressively work with our energy companies to have adequate supply for security. But more importantly, our allies are all asking us right now can you provide us with more gas? Can you provide us more of that? And and so here we are 100 years of natural gas, we don’t have the pipelines to get it. We don’t have it.”
Fink continued, “I mean, I’m working in projects in Alaska right now. We’re working on projects everywhere right now to try to make America the exporter.”
The entire transcript of the interview is at this link.
Fink is no stranger to the state. He travels to Alaska every year for fishing trips at Lake Iliamna and Blackrock manages a small portion of the Alaska Permanent Fund.
In addition to the Blackrock interest in developing Alaska gas, as now leaked by Fink on national television, Gov. Mike Dunleavy traveled to Japan in early June to discuss the market for Alaska gas in that longtime trading partner.
Dunleavy and Sen. Dan Sullivan met with Japanese companies, utilities, and government ministries about Alaska’s natural gas export potential. Dunleavy and Sullivan’s trip came at a time that Japan is pivoting towards an energy transition, one that Alaska can supply in the coming decades, including blue and green hydrogen, at a time of great geopolitical instability in other parts of the world.
“Alaska and Japan have a trade partnership going back over fifty years to the first LNG export from Nikiski to Japan,” said Dunleavy. “The natural gas of the Cook Inlet literally turned the lights on in cities across Japan and powered the economic engine that lifted that nation’s postwar society into a critically powerful western ally. There appears to be, due to the shift across the world away from older fuel sources, and the simultaneous need for supplies that are not risked due to political instability, a role that Alaska natural gas could play. Alaska can supply Japan with another fifty of natural gas and clean hydrogen for decades to come.”
The Alaska delegation held meeting with representatives of the JERA, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, along with Tokyo Gas and TOYO Engineering. Meetings were also held with the Mitsubishi Corporation, the Chiyoda Corporation, well as INPEX and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
Unlike former Gov. Bill Walker, who had signed numerous MOU agreements with Communist China, Dunleavy has not issued many statements or gotten out over his skis on making promises that were not ready, other to say that talks with Japan were productive.
The big barrier will be the Biden Administration, which seems to think that America and the world can transition to green energy without a bridge energy source. It may take a company like Blackrock to convince the Biden Administration to take a more circumspect route and develop domestic gas for export to countries now dependent on Russia.
