US allows more LNG supplies to Europe
The US Department of Energy (DOE) said on Wednesday it has issued approvals for additional exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from two major facilities on the US Gulf Coast. The decision aims to help Europe deal with the energy crunch, which has been worsened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
According to the DOE, around 720 million cubic feet of the supercooled fuel per day will be exported from the Sabine Pass (Louisiana) and Corpus Christi (Texas) terminals to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the US, including all of Europe.
Previously, the terminals were authorized to export the gas only to countries with free trade agreements, including Canada, Mexico, Australia, more than a dozen countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.
Now every operating US LNG export project has approval to export at full capacity to any country, where not prohibited by US law or policy.
“US LNG remains an important component to global energy security, and DOE remains committed to finding ways to help our allies and trading partners with the energy supplies they need while continuing to work to mitigate the impact of climate change,” the energy department said.
Europe relies heavily on Russia, which provides up to 40% of natural gas to the continent. Soaring natural gas prices have triggered an energy crisis in Europe, which now plans to wean itself off Russian dependency by two-thirds this year.
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