Free Trade Agreement

freeport lng

The US Department of Energy today granted Freeport LNG two final authorizations to export natural gas to non-Free Trade Agreement countries. The ruling authorizes Freeport to export up to 1.8 billion cubic feet of LNG per day for 20 years. The DOE earlier this year changed its LNG permit approval process from a blanket first… Keep reading →

Louisiana Oil Industry Recovers From Katrina Devastation

United States law prohibits exports of crude oil and condensate except under certain conditions, while exports of refined products and natural gas are far less restricted. While these laws had little impact when the country was in a position of oil and gas scarcity, the country’s newfound energy abundance has rendered some of them obsolete,… Keep reading →

Endangered Blue Whales Spotted Off California Coast

It’s day two of the federal government shutdown, and there’s no real sense yet of how long it might last. In the meantime, investment bank Simmons & Co has helpfully laid out some possible effects on the oil and gas industry, depending on its duration. This could include delays to additional Department of Energy approvals for… Keep reading →

U.S. Trade Deficit Reaches All-Time High

The proposed 6 million ton per annum (mtpa) Jordan Cove LNG export facility in Coos Bay, Oregon has completed the front-end engineering and design and pre-construction phases, but if and when the project clears federal regulatory hurdles, it may still face political opposition at the state level. Infrastructure firm Black & Veatch and construction and… Keep reading →

One Year Anniversary Of BP Oil Spill Approaches

The US Department of Energy announced conditional approval yeserday for 2 billion cubic feet per day of LNG exports from a proposed export project in Lake Charles, Louisiana to countries with which the US does not have a free trade agreement. This marks the third project obtain non-FTA export approval thus far. Proponents of unfettered… Keep reading →

Louisiana Oil Industry Recovers From Katrina Devastation

Natural gas production gains spurred by the unconventional revolution upended long-held beliefs about resource scarcity in the US, leading to calls for exports. And the rise in US unconventional crude production has led to similar calls for exporting oil. “Federal lawmakers should overturn the ban on exporting crude oil produced in the United States,” said Blake… Keep reading →

A liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker sit

Proponents of a “commercial maturity test” for LNG export projects suggest that it could help to bridge the gap between those who support and those who oppose allowing the market to determine how much natural gas the US will sell abroad. But changing the rules mid-stream could give some project developers an edge, and even… Keep reading →

Steams rises from the Kawasaki natural g

The window for US exporters to enter the global LNG marketplace will not be open forever, so why is it taking so long to approve these projects? Several high-profile energy experts mulled this and other economic, geopolitical and environmental questions at a recent Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy gathering. The US Department of… Keep reading →

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker arr

The ongoing debate about whether the US should permit additional LNG exports to countries with which it does not have a free trade agreement (non-FTA) is far from being just a question of whether we have enough gas to remain well-supplied domestically and export to other countries. The LNG export issue touches upon prospects for… Keep reading →


What happens when federal regulation designed to guard against national shortages of a critical fuel runs headlong into fuel surpluses?

That’s what the US is finding out now with natural gas, and nowhere is the dilemma more clearly on display than the issue of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Keep reading →

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