A bipartisan group of US senators is urging Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to speed approvals of LNG exports requests, saying that at its current rate, the Department of Energy will take two years to approve all the pending permits.
"By then, the private financing and market opportunities making these projects attractive may have dissipated and foreign customers will be forced to turn to other suppliers to secure their energy needs," according to the senators' letter.
The letter was spearheaded by Senator Jim Inhofe, Republican-Oklahoma, and Mark Begich, Democrat-Alaska. "My colleagues on both sides of the aisle recognize the economic and environmental importance of this abundant natural energy resource just as we have seen in Oklahoma," Inhofe said in a statement Wednesday.
DOE must quickly approve LNG exports to countries that have free trade agreements with the US, but it can limit or block exports to non-FTA countries. So far, DOE has only approved two non-FTA applications for export projects in the Lower-48 states.
In their letter, the senators said DOE is planning to consider the remaining 20 applications in six- to eight-week intervals. At this pace, gas-hungry nations may look elsewhere for LNG, they said.
"If the US does not aggressively market LNG abroad, many of these nations may have no choice but to purchase energy from ... or other nations that are not aligned with our own national interest," the letter said.
The senators asked Moniz if he would speed the rate of permit approvals, consider evaluating multiple permits during the next round of approvals, and/or prioritize projects that have established that they are commercially viable.
