Momentum Builds for U.S. LNG Exports

Mark Green
Posted March 24, 2014

U.S. Energy Boom May Signal New Export Era

Los Angeles Times: In a Louisiana swamp several miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico, about 3,000 construction workers are building a massive industrial facility to liquefy natural gas, preparing for a new era when the U.S. will begin exporting energy around the globe.

The $12-billion project is one of the largest single industrial investments in the nation, part of a massive transformation of the energy sector that has led to a boom in drilling, transportation and refining from coast to coast.

Five years ago, the idea of exporting U.S. gas and oil was not only unheard of, but, in the case of most U.S. crude oil, illegal. At that time, the United States was facing a future of dwindling domestic supplies and vulnerability to foreign producers. It was anxiously building facilities to import natural gas, worried about ever-higher prices and building much of its foreign policy on the need to secure energy supplies.

But U.S. energy production has boomed with the technological revolution of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, and the ability to tap newly accessible massive reserves. The nation surpassed Russia in 2009 as the largest producer of natural gas and is expected to zip past Saudi Arabia next year to become the largest oil producer in the world.

Now, the U.S. energy industry is pushing for a new era of exports.

Read more: http://lat.ms/1djoQVp

More Industry News:

• Editorial: Using U.S. Natural Gas as an Energy Wedge Against Russia: http://wapo.st/1rpmwju
• Administration Approves Oregon LNG Export Terminal: http://bit.ly/1m2FN6p
• Chemical Industry Plans for Affordable Natural Gas (subscription publication): http://on.wsj.com/1jx92wC
• More Marcellus Jobs On the Way: http://bit.ly/1m2FsAw
• Hybrid Engine Uses Less Fuel While Drilling For It: http://bit.ly/Q8i3DP