The American Petroleum Institute is following Rahm Emanuel’s playbook, and using the crisis in Ukraine as an argument for swift action by the federal government to increase U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas.
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” Emanuel said when the now-mayor of Chicago was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff.
The Ukraine crisis has highlighted that country’s dependence on Russia as a source of natural gas. Four other European countries who are energy-dependent on Russia — Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia — recently urged the U.S. government to “remove bureaucratic hurdles” standing in the way of export licenses to countries that don’t have free trade agreements with the U.S.
There’s no reason the U.S. government shouldn’t do that, said Erik Milito, director of upstream and industry operations for the American Petroleum Institute.
“Our allies in Europe are eager for a reliable partner to enter the marketplace as a stable, secure source of natural gas, and American industry is ready to make that happen,” he said.
The Department of Energy, however, has approved only six of 20 applications for exports of LNG to non-FTA nations, he notes.
Speeding up that approval process will protect the global energy market from future disruptions, increase competition, and reduce the dependence of U.S. allies on single providers such as Russia, he told reporters during a conference call on Wednesday.
The U.S. has plenty of natural gas to export, given the explosion of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in recent years.
“For the first time in generations, the United States is an energy superpower,” Milito said. “And the world – especially Europe and countries like Russia, China, and India – is watching closely to see if American policymakers are ready to harness that power on the international stage.
“Now is the time to build our energy infrastructure, expand exports, and lock in the economic and geopolitical opportunities that our energy revolution has created,” he said.
But if the U.S. doesn’t act quickly, other nations will. More than 60 LNG export facilities are planned or under construction in other nations, Milito noted.
The American Public Gas Association, however, contends the U.S. should conduct a thorough analysis of the natural gas market before it approves any more LNG export applications. The trade association, which represents municipal gas distribution systems, fears increased LNG exports would raise prices for domestic homeowners and businesses.
Plus, the White House contends approving LNG export licenses would have no immediate effect on the Ukraine crisis, since it would take a year or more for new terminals to be constructed.
But approving these licenses could send an “incredibly powerful” signal to the world, “provided the market believes we’ll do what we say we’ll do,” Milito said.
House Republicans introduced legislation this month to require the Department of Energy to immediately approve completed LNG export applications.
“By allowing more exports of LNG, not only are we going to create those new jobs, but we are going to ease the pressure on nations who have to be reliant on nations like Russia for their energy supplies,” said co-sponsor Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/washingtonbureau/2014/03/is-ukraine-crisis-a-good-reason-to-expedite-lng.html?page=all