A prospective Congressional initiative, submitted by U.S. House Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) would remove the White House-dominated U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from the approval process for expediting the production of new liquefied natural gas and the development of export terminals.
The proposed bill would transfer the regulatory authority covering LNG exports directly to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This would remove the DOE as a stumbling block from a government agency that could greatly lengthen the approval process when the current massive LNG generation makes fast approval extremely urgent. There are already several LNG projects, concentrated on the Gulf Coast, awaiting DOE approval.
This circumvention of the Department of Energy hurdle would put into play both new liquefaction projects, as well as export terminals. Awaiting such U.S. liquid natural gas capabilities are Japan, the United Kingdom, and Western and Central Europe, whose imported costs per million British thermal units far outweigh America’s price of less than $4 per million BTU’s. European nations are at the mercy of Russian pipelines, where LNG prices are as high as $15 per the U.S. equivalents.
Unlike the rest of the world’s competing LNG exporters, the U.S. places no taxes on exports of any kind under the aegis of constitutional law. The timing of a massive U.S. LNG thrust is also outstanding, as Qatar, Norway, Algeria, and Australia among the world’s LNG exporters are using increasing amounts domestically, as their internal usage switches from coal to natural gas.
The available supply of U.S. natural gas to LNG conversion is practically unlimited, even if natural gas for domestic use is doubled or tripled in the foreseeable future. Based on current estimates of ultimate LNG potential, these could indicate clear sailing for the U.S. for the next 100 years. Furthermore, the U.S. is also strategically located between Europe on the one hand, and the Far East on the other. This would keep transit costs throughout the world at a moderate level, no matter how high the potential shipments climb.
The success of the pending House Bill could unlock nearly $100 billion in capital value over 800 miles of coastline, from Texas’s Southern tip to Pascagoula, Mississippi. The genesis of billions of dollars worth of these embryonic projects are already at $60 billion. They will also eventually require thousands of workmen, turning a current unemployment glut into a subsequent labor shortage.
This is only the beginning of realistic and impressive job and revenue-producing opportunities. These will only be impeded by the infernal stubbornness of government agencies that are not particularly intent on alleviating the hurdles or facilitating America’s growth opportunities.
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