Republican says US House to vote on reversing Biden's LNG exports pause-Bloomberg
WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next month on a measure to overturn the Biden administration’s moratorium on approvals of new liquefied natural gas exports, Bloomberg reported, citing a Republican lawmaker.
The measure will be voted on the week after next, the report said, citing Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The measure could get wide support in the House, which is controlled by Republicans, though if it passed there, it would not likely pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, announced the permitting pause on Friday to allow time for his administration to take a “hard look” at the environmental and economic impact of LNG exports to big markets in Asia and Europe that the U.S. does not have free trade agreements with.
Republican lawmakers slammed the moratorium which applies to pending applications for LNG exports, and future ones that could come before the Department of Energy, if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) first votes to approve more LNG projects.
The moratorium, which will likely be in effect until after the Nov. 5 election, was criticized by House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, who said it was made to “please radical climate activists in the Democratic party.”
Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to queries about the timing of any vote.
The pause could affect timing of Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 terminal project in Louisiana, if it is approved by FERC. CP2 would be the largest U.S. LNG terminal, once approved.
Johnson, who is from Louisiana, has said the pause benefits Russia, which still supplies Europe with gas via pipeline, despite the region weaning itself off Russian gas after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.