Energy Department Rarely Revokes LNG Export Authorization, Says Energy Official
The Department of Energy rescinds previously-granted authorization for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports only in extraordinary circumstances, taking into account private companies’ investment-backed expectations, the Department of Energy said in an Oct. 17 letter to Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. Murkowski in August requested clarification on the agency’s revocation and modification process for LNG exports, in a letter submitted to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz (here).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
“DOE's records indicate that supplemental orders vacating prior authorizations to import or export natural gas, including LNG, have been issued only in circumstances where the authorization holder had not utilized its authorization for several years following the issuance of the authorization and either had requested the authorization be vacated, had gone out of business, or was nonresponsive to our inquiries,” said the letter, written by Department of Energy Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Office of Oil and Natural Gas Paula Grant. “DOE would hold an adjudicatory proceeding that would give parties an opportunity to be heard in writing. In practice, this provides all persons who would or likely could be aggrieved by agency action with the ability to present their views to the agency.”
Several foreign diplomats pressed the need to eliminate Department of Energy barriers to U.S. LNG export at an Oct. 10 House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power (see 13101108). Many of the diplomats came from countries that the U.S. does not share free-trade agreements with, but expressed interest in importing U.S. LNG. Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., introduced on Oct. 22 the North American Energy Infrastructure Act (here) that would revamp the export authorization process.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the DOE letter to Sen. Murkowski.