Republicans attack Biden’s LNG pause

Last week, 16 US Republican-led states filed a lawsuit to challenge the federal government's ban on approving future applications to export LNG.?

The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Lake Charles, Louisiana, by the Republican attorneys representing a coalition of states, which include Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

They claimed that the US Department of Energy's (DoE) pause on exports will harm the US economy and undermine efforts to supply foreign allies in Europe with steady supplies of LNG, as the region seeks to move away from importing Russian piped gas.

The states alleged that the pause on new approvals for LNG exports oversteps the DoE’s authority under the Natural Gas Act, which they said requires the agency to affirmatively show projects are inconsistent with the public interest before denying applications.

They also argued the ban jeopardises billions of dollars in investments planned to build the export facilities.

An initial LNG export review is expected to last for months. The last review was in 2018 when export capacity was 4 bill cu ft per day. Capacity has since tripled and is set to go much higher by 2030 given the number of projects under construction.

US domestic industries, including chemical, steel and agriculture businesses, have also opposed unrestricted exports, which they say can raise concerns about the reliability of the domestic supply and fuel prices.

Before the lawsuit was filed, efforts by Republicans in Congress to strip the DoE’s power to approve the exports and leave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with the sole responsibility for approving LNG projects, stalled.

FERC assessment

Meanwhile, FERC has prepared an environmental assessment for the Port Arthur Liquefaction Project Amendment, proposed by Port Arthur LNG and Port Arthur LNG Common Facilities Co (PALNG).

PALNG proposes to increase the peak construction workforce from its currently authorised 3,000 personnel up to 6,000 personnel per day at the PALNG Terminal site in Jefferson County, Texas.

In addition, it would implement a 24 h per day building schedule for the remaining construction period at the site.

FERC concluded that the proposed amendment, with appropriate mitigating measures, would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.

In another move related to LNG export projects, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the US Coast Guard (USCG) announced the cancellation of all actions related to the processing of a license application for the proposed Grand Isle LNG Export Deepwater Port Development Project.?