The U.S. Department of Energy will begin approving or rejecting pending applications for permits to export liquefied natural gas to countries with no free trade agreements with the U.S., the agency said on Monday, after releasing a final study on the impact of further exports.
In 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration paused such approvals until the outcome of the study to determine if increasing LNG exports could harm the environment or raise gas prices because of rising demand from LNG plants.
The U.S., the world’s largest LNG exporter, is on track to triple its export capacity by the end of the decade. The pause threatened to limit the ability of the U.S. to increase such exports.
On U.S. President Donald Trump’s first day in office he declared an energy emergency and restarted approvals for LNG export permits to countries without a free trade agreement with the U.S.
The Department of Energy has decided to begin making routine approvals now that the study is complete.
“The 2024 study confirms what our nation always knew — LNG supports our economy, strengthens our allies, and enhances national security,” Tala Goudarzi, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, said on Monday.
Proposed projects awaiting DOE permits include Energy Transfer’s ET 16.5 million metric tons per annum plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and Cheniere Energy’s LNG midscale 8 and 9 facility in Texas.
“We remain confident we will receive all necessary regulatory approvals in time to FID the project later this year,” Cheniere said in response to the DOE announcement, referring to its final investment decision.
Several environmental groups criticized the agency’s decision on Monday, accusing it of ignoring the study’s key findings that unfettered LNG exports could increase wholesale domestic natural gas prices by over 30% and make the U.S. less able to meet its commitment to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“LNG exports raise costs to Americans’ energy bills, are disastrous for frontline communities, increase public health harms, and perpetuate the climate crisis,” said Mahyar Sorour, director of Beyond Fossil Fuels Policy at the Sierra Club.
Source: Reuters