Governor Greg Gianforte brought together representatives from South Korea’s major energy companies in Billings on June 17, 2026, for talks aimed at deepening trade ties and advancing Montana’s coal export ambitions in the Pacific Rim market.

Montana’s Coal Position

Montana holds roughly 30 percent of the nation’s recoverable coal reserves and produces approximately 26 million metric tons annually. Nearly half of that output is already destined for export markets, making international demand a central factor in the state’s energy economy.

Korea purchased about $335 million worth of Montana goods in 2024, a mix that included industrial machinery, coal, beef, and wheat, underscoring the bilateral economic relationship Gianforte is working to expand.

“Montana is proud to be an energy leader, holding the largest recoverable coal reserves in the United States and producing reliable baseload power to supply communities here at home and abroad,” Gianforte said.

Discussions in Billings covered Montana’s coal reserves, energy independence, coal’s reliability as baseload power for electric grids, and the state’s capacity to serve as a long-term clean coal supplier for Korean utilities.

Port Capacity and Export Bottlenecks

A recurring obstacle in the conversation was West Coast port access. Gianforte has made securing a northern coal export terminal a stated priority, arguing that current infrastructure forces Montana producers to route shipments through Canada rather than directly to Pacific Rim buyers.

“What Montana really needs is expanded port capacity on the West Coast,” Gianforte said. “We have buyers in the Pacific Rim that want our coal but right now we have to ship it through Canada.”

Without direct U.S. port access, Montana coal faces logistical costs and capacity constraints that limit the volume exporters can move to markets like South Korea and Japan, where demand for reliable baseload fuel remains strong.

Policy Background

The Billings meeting follows a pattern of energy diplomacy Gianforte has pursued over the past year. He led a strategic trade mission to Japan and South Korea the previous year, laying groundwork for the kind of direct industry conversations that took place this week.

On the regulatory front, Gianforte has pushed back against federal land-use restrictions he argues undermine Montana’s coal potential. A Biden-era Bureau of Land Management amendment to the Miles City Resource Management Plan had placed 338 million tons of federal coal off-limits to future leasing — a move state officials estimated threatened up to $4 billion in revenue for state trust beneficiaries, including K-12 schools.

In December, Gianforte joined President Donald Trump in backing a joint congressional resolution sponsored by Senator Steve Daines and Representative Troy Downing that overturned that rule. The resolution reversed the leasing restriction, reopening that coal acreage to future development consideration.

Earlier, in April of the previous year, Gianforte participated alongside President Trump at the White House for executive order signings focused on expanding American energy production — actions the governor has pointed to as federal alignment with Montana’s resource priorities.

Broader Context

The energy summit in Billings is part of Gianforte’s ongoing 56 County Tour, through which he has been engaging communities and industries across Montana. Energy development, grid reliability, and export infrastructure have been recurring themes throughout that effort.

Montana’s coal sector sits at the intersection of several active policy debates: the future of federal land leasing, West Coast port politics, and the international energy strategies of Pacific Rim nations looking for reliable fuel sources as they manage electricity demand. For South Korean buyers in particular, long-term supply agreements with a stable producer like Montana offer an alternative to more volatile global coal markets.

Gianforte’s administration has consistently framed coal not as a transitional fuel to be wound down, but as a permanent component of grid reliability — a position that finds receptive audiences among energy-importing nations still heavily dependent on coal for power generation. The conversations in Billings reflect Montana’s continued effort to convert its reserve advantage into durable export relationships.