Blue sky
Biden administration’s pause on new licenses for liquefied natural gas export projects is a ‘political stunt’ that will push emissions higher and harm global energy security, EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) CEO Toby Rice said this week, as Criticism of the decision is mounting.
It’s “bad policy” from an environmental and energy security perspective, since LNG helps replace coal, so limiting LNG increases emissions, Rice told Bloomberg in an interview.
Projects scheduled to begin in 2027-28 “now, with this uncertainty, have shifted to the left,” meaning the ability to replace foreign coal has also “shifted to the left,” said Rice, who intends testify at a press conference. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee hearing will be presented next week.
The pause is a “mistake” that “actually hurts the world as it reaches net zero sooner or later,” Kathy Mikells, chief financial officer of Exxon Mobil (XOM), said on Friday.
A group of 10 Democratic U.S. House lawmakers from gas-producing states including Texas, Alaska and California sent a letter to Biden asking him to reconsider the decision.
It’s not yet clear how many House Democrats might join Republicans in voting for an upcoming resolution of disapproval that deems White House energy policies “harmful” and “un-American” that will undermine U.S. energy security and end up helping Russia .
But even without the decision, according to Jinjoo Lee of The Wall Street Journalfrom the Overheard on the Street column.
The United States has already granted non-free trade agreement export authorizations to projects worth 48.6 Bcf/d; of these, projects with a total capacity of 22.1 billion cubic meters/day had not started construction as of the end of 2023, which likely means they have not secured enough contracts to make final investment decisions, and that buyers of Gases around the world are not clamoring to secure supply in the medium term, Lee wrote.
Wood Mackenzie estimates the global LNG market could absorb a delay of 18-24 months, given the numerous projects already under construction in the United States
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