US DOE has authorised GLLC to export up to 1.53billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas as LNG from the proposed Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project
Image: The Forrestal Building, en:United States Department of Energy headquarters on Independence Avenue. Photo courtesy of US Department of Energy/Wikimedia Commons
The US Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Fossil Energy has approved Gulf LNG Liquefaction Company (GLLC) to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project.
United States Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said: “This announcement advances the Trump administration’s commitment to energy security here at home and for our friends abroad. Increased amounts of U.S. LNG on the world market benefit the American economy, American workers, and consumers and help make the air cleaner around the globe.”
Gulf LNG project is 50% owned by Kinder Morgan
The Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project is 50% owned by Kinder Morgan’s Southern Gulf LNG Company, and is planned to be constructed at the site of the Gulf LNG Terminal in Jackson County, near the city of Pascagoula, Mississippi, US.
Gulf LNG Terminal is an existing import terminal owned by Gulf LNG Energy.
Under the US DOE order, GLLC is provided with the authority to export up to 1.53 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas as LNG from the proposed Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project.
GLLC is enabled to export LNG by vessel to any country with which the US does not have a free trade agreement (FTA) requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas, and trade is not prohibited.
In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has officially permitted GLLC to site, construct, and operate the project.
US Fossil Energy Assistant Secretary Steven Winberg said: “The U.S. is in another year of record-setting natural gas production. I am pleased that the Department of Energy is doing its part to bring about an efficient regulatory system that allows for additional U.S. energy to find its way into the global market.”
US DOE claims that including the present approval, it has approved 34.52Bcf/d of exports in the form of LNG and compressed natural gas to non-free trade agreement countries
Furthermore, approximately 14Bcf/d of the approved amount is in various stages of operation and construction, with four export projects currently operating, and two more to be operational in later 2019.