PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 10: An aerial view of the Cheniere Energy liquefied natural gas plant on February 10, 2025 in Port Arthur, Texas. China, the world's largest importer of liquefied natural gas, has announced that it will be placing a 15% tariff on U.S. liquefied natural gas in retaliation to President Trump's ruling to impose tariffs on Chinese commodities. Brandon Bell/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Brandon Bell / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
WASHINGTON: US president Donald Trump’s administration says it has granted a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export licence to the Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana, the first approval of LNG exports after former president Joe Biden paused them early last year.
The exports are approved to go to markets in Asia and Europe.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, whose agency is responsible for approving the shipments, said exporting US LNG “strengthens the US economy and supports American jobs while bolstering energy security around the world”.
The United States is trying to increase its LNG exports to help reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian gas after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump ordered a lifting of the freeze on LNG export approvals the day he came into office for a second time on Jan 20.
Commonwealth LNG, which has waited longer than any other company for its permit, wants to build a 9.5 million tonne a year export plant in Louisiana to sell to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement with the United States.
“Today’s actions demonstrate that President Trump is prioritising the American energy industry and we are both pleased and grateful to have achieved these important regulatory objectives,” said Commonwealth chief executive officer Farhad Ahrabi.
The company is expecting to make a final investment decision this September as a result of the licence and subject to regulatory approval. Commonwealth expects first LNG production from the project in early 2029.
Two other LNG companies, Cheniere and Energy Transfer, have said they plan to move full speed ahead with their plans to export the fuel.
US LNG exports are expected to double before the end of the decade, based on approvals that had been granted before Biden’s pause.
That has raised environmentalists’ worries about the LNG boom’s potential to boost carbon emissions, while some manufacturers and fuel-dependent industries are concerned it might spike domestic gas prices.
Trump also signed an executive order in the Oval Office last Friday creating a new energy council to be led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, which will seek to expand US output of oil and gas. The United States is already the world’s largest producer of those fossil fuels.
The president commented on how he plans to boost drilling and said more than 600 million acres of offshore federal waters are now open to oil and gas development, after Biden had taken them off the table. — Reuters
