T
he global natural gas market is
primed for the U.S. to increase its
status as a major player. World-
wide demand for liquefed natural
gas (LNG) between 2020 and 2025 is
projected to be around 60 billion cubic feet
(bcf) per day, up from approximately 37 bcf
today. With current capacity at 23 bcf per
day, the supply and demand gap makes
the LNG market attractive for countries with
enough resources to export. The U.S. is one
of those countries, with the nonproft Poten-
tial Gas Committee estimating reserves at
2,384 trillion cubic feet (tcf).
The U.S. can meet domestic natural
gas demand for the next 150 years, and
have more than enough to sell a small frac-
tion to its trading partners abroad, says Bill
Cooper, President of the Center for Lique-
fed Natural Gas (CLNG), a trade associa-
tion of LNG producers, shippers, terminal
operators and developers, and energy trade
organizations. CLNG seeks to facilitate a
fact-based dialogue with all stakeholders.
Despite the compelling case for U.S.
LNG exports, in 2011 the U.S. Depart-
ment of Energy (DOE) essentially instituted
a moratorium on application approvals
while it proceeded with a yearlong review.
At the end of that year, DOE released a
macroeconomic report, completed by
NERA Economic Consulting, that found
for every one of the market scenarios
examined, net economic benefts in-
creased as ... LNG exports increased.
Despite these fndings, DOE has approved
only fve non-free-trade-agreement ap-
plications, while numerous others are
awaiting review.
These delays are coming at the price
of jobs. Each LNG export terminal is a
multibillion-dollar investment that not only
creates construction jobs but permanent
jobs throughout the value chain. According
to a study from ICF International, employ-
ment from LNG exports is expected to
create between 73,100 and 452,300
jobs nationwide from 2016 to 2035. That
means jobs for steelworkers, turbine manu-
facturers, pipeftters and others, which will
help communities across the U.S.
Given the scale of this potential job
creation and economic growth, many
public offcials support a speedier approval
process for LNG export terminals. Its not
surprising that this initiative also has the
support of labor unions and small-business
owners across the U.S.
The National Association of Manufac-
turers has stressed that export restrictions,
including those on LNG, would have far-
reaching negative effects on the U.S., and
should be rejected, says Cooper.
In addition to its economic benefts,
natural gas also advances environmental
goals that everyone on the planet has
an interest in attaining. For example,
increased natural gas use across the U.S.
is largely responsible for U.S. carbon
emissions falling 3.8 percent last year, to
1994 levels, and is an important part of
the nations agenda for addressing climate
concerns. Supplying a fraction of American
LNG to trading partners abroad would help
reduce global greenhouse gas emissions,
since natural gas is the cleanest-burning
fossil fuel and an important complement to
renewable sources of power.
There is no question that U.S. LNG
exports could be one of our countrys big-
gest contributions to improving the global
environment, while also creating jobs here
at home, says Cooper. C
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Ships like this LNG vessel
should be leaving American
shores more often.
A Need for Natural Speed
The U.S. can help supply global demand for liquefed natural gas and have plenty left over for use at home.
So why the delay?
Worldwide demand for
liqueed natural gas (LNG)
between 2020 and 2025 is
projected to be around 60
billion cubic feet (bcf) per
day, up from approximately
37 bcf today.
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