The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas on Tuesday called for the expedited passage of an energy bill containing certain LNG provisions.
In a letter sent to the chairman and ranking members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Natural Resources, CLNG said that the legislation is a “crucial milestone in establishing a thriving and internationally competitive LNG industry in the United States.”
According to the letter, the bill contains the provision to codify the timeline for Department of Energy (DOE) reviews of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permits to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries. The bill has already received bipartisan support in both chambers.
“We further urge conference committee negotiators to complete their work and bring the underlying bill containing the LNG export provision to a vote before the end of the 114th Congress,” stands in the letter sent to senators Murkowski and Cantwell and congressmen Upton, Pallone, Bishop and Grijalva.
While LNG export terminals take years to develop and build, many planned facilities have already advanced detailed engineering plans and started negotiations toward long-term sales agreements with international consumers, stands in the letter.
These agreements are essential for project developers to secure the financing they need to construct LNG terminals. It is extremely difficult for projects to make final investment decisions and arrange funding until the DOE approves a project’s export application. The LNG industry is ready to create jobs and help supply global demand for natural gas, but it needs regulatory certainty and a clear timeline for action on exports applications from DOE to do so.
According to the CLNG, the legislation would provide regulatory certainty needed for the LNG industry to make investments worth billions of dollars in critical infrastructure.
The organization calls for the DOE to act on non-FTA export applications within 30 days of the conclusion of the NEPA review, urging the Congress to codify it into law.
LNG World News Staff