Opposition to US LNG exports could lead to ban: API economist
Washington (Platts)--17Jan2013/220 pm EST/1920 GMT
An industry economist on Thursday blasted opposition to expanding
liquefied natural gas exports as a "knee-jerk reaction" to energy
experts and, potentially, the start of an all-out export ban.
In a conference call with reporters, John Felmy, chief economist with
the American Petroleum Institute, painted calls for limits on US LNG
exports as "creeping regulation" which could lead to a ban and compel
other nations to pursue trade sanctions against the US.
"What puzzles me about this whole situation is, in general, we as a
country strongly support exports of everything but energy," Felmy said.
"For some reason we get ourselves all wrapped up in a concern that
energy is somehow a strategic commodity and we shouldn't export it and
we shouldn't take advantage of the benefits that exports are."
Felmy said that restricting LNG exports "makes no more sense than
unnecessarily restricting the export of chemicals, agricultural products
or cars."
Felmy's argument was the latest in the ongoing fight over the Obama
administration's looming decision over whether to expand LNG exports to
countries the US does not have a free trade agreement with.
Under current law, DOE is supposed to quickly approve applications to
export LNG to countries that have formal free trade agreements with the
US. But in cases involving non-FTA countries, DOE must determine whether
those exports are in the US' "public interest."
The fight has pitted oil and gas groups, like API, against groups such
as the American Public Gas Association, aluminum producer Alcoa, steel
producer Nucor and the Dow Chemical Company, who argue an expansion of
LNG exports will unnecessarily cause natural gas prices to rise.
On Thursday, Tulsa, Oklahoma Mayor Dewey Bartlett sent a package of
letters signed by 16 other mayors of cities in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma
and Louisiana to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, urging him to speed up the
approval of LNG export facilities.
"In our collective view, it is time to bring a renewed sense of urgency
to the approval process," Bartlett wrote.
Bartlett wrote that there was trepidation that LNG exports facilities
were being developed "aggressively" in Australia and Canada with
government backing.
"In fact, it is estimated that more than 2 percent of the GDP in
Australia will be tied to LNG exports after 2016," Bartlett wrote.
In a conference call with reporters Thursday, Bartlett said restrictions
on LNG exports represent a "missed opportunity" for municipalities
throughout the US who depend on energy jobs. Bartlett said a recent
study found that 191,000 of Tulsa's 400,000 jobs were related to the oil
and natural gas industry.
--Brian Scheid,
brian_scheid@platts.com
--Edited by Jason Lindquist,
jason_lindquist@platts.com
© 2013 Platts, The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
To subscribe or visit go to:
http://www.platts.com
|