GLNG: US manufacturers call for LNG restrictions

A major trade group in the US has urged the government to take steps to curtail the country’s LNG exports, warning of high domestic prices and potentially shortages later this year. The request revives a decade-long dispute over the economic benefits of rising LNG exports and the impact that they have on the domestic industry that depends on low-cost gas for power and feedstock.

Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), representing chemical, food and materials manufacturers with some $1 trillion in combined annual sales, warned in a letter to US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm that “US consumers, the health of the economy, and national security should take priority over LNG export profits.

The government should also put a freeze on new project permitting in the US Lower 48 states, and carry out a review into whether these initiatives are in the public interest, IECA said. “We are certain they are not,” it added.

The US already has 11.1bn cubic feet per day (115 bcm per year) of LNG capacity in operation, and a further 87 bcm of approved projects that are already under construction. IECA is seeking a freeze on an additional 247 bcm of capacity that has been approved but is not yet under construction, along with 31 bcm proposed with applications pending and 56.8 bcm still at the prefilling state.

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