U.S. Senators introduce legislation to boost LNG exports

Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., has filed the License Natural Gas Now Act, while Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act, both of which aim to expedite the export of LNG from the United States.    Two U.S. Senators – Bill Cassidy, MD, R-La., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas – introduced legislation last week to boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
   Cassidy introduced the License Natural Gas (LNG) Now Act Thursday “to remove barriers placed on U.S. exporters so they can quickly access the market and meet the global demand of natural gas,” according to Cassidy’s office.
   The legislation would revamp the current system put in place by the Department of Energy decades ago, and create market growth on U.S. exports without any delays, Cassidy’s office said.
   The LNG Now Act has been publicly endorsed by the American Petroleum Institute, the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, G2 LNG, LNG Allies, and the Natural Gas Supply Association.
   “This legislation will streamline and focus the permitting process of exporting LNG from the United States,” said G2 LNG CEO Thomas Hudson. “Thousands of jobs and millions of new tax revenues to local, state and federal governments stand to be created.”
   Also last week, Cruz introduced the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act, which would amend the Natural Gas Act to create a process for expediting LNG exports, but any nation subject to sanctions or trade restrictions would be exempt from the expedited process.
   Although such efforts to accelerate U.S. natural gas exports will likely benefit domestic companies, create jobs and strengthen trade ties abroad, policymakers need to be realistic about the limited ability these exports will have on strengthening the energy security of U.S. allies, especially in Eastern Europe, Brenda Shaffer, a professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, said in an editorial for The Hill.
   Continued and simplified permitting of additional U.S. gas exports is likely to drive up global demand, but permitted volumes have already been outpacing actual contracts for gas, illustrating how the permitting process has not necessarily prevented gas from reaching markets that desire the imports, Shaffer explained.
   In addition, many proponents of fast-tracking have argued that it holds foreign policy benefits, especially for allies in Eastern Europe that depend on gas from Russia, but few of these states would actually benefit from increased U.S. exports, she said. Most are landlocked and unable to import U.S. LNG, and those that do have sea access, like the Ukraine, are unlikely to be able to afford the U.S. gas.