The U.S. Department of Energy will begin approving or rejecting pending applications for permits for liquefied natural gas exports to countries without any free trade agreement 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 higher demand for natural gas 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 U.S. ability to increase such exports.
“The 2024 study confirms what our nation always knew — LNG supports our economy, strengthens our allies, and enhances national security,” Tala Goudarzi, the 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 Lake Charles 16.5 million metric tons per annum plant in Louisiana, and Cheniere Energy’s midscale 8 and 9 facility in Texas.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)