Europe is increasingly looking for US natural gas, and many countries are planning new ports of import. However, increasing exports is not quite simple, says the director of a gas giant in the US.
SABINE PASS, LOUISIANA The silver gleaming pipeline meanders towards the harbor and directly into the huge cargo ship. It is currently being filled with liquefied natural gas.
In addition, there is one major problem with the promise that is easy to understand at the export port of Chenier, the largest gas exporter in the United States.
The port can accommodate two cargo ships at a time, no more. It takes a day to fill one ship. Although an additional berth is being completed for the port, it will not be possible to increase the export volume without time-consuming expansion work – completely new ports are needed.
Increasing exports will not happen in an instant
In the United States, the president cannot control the direction of individual cargoes in the free market, but companies sell their gas to the highest-paying customer.
“The administration took the time to understand how the gas market works, how much flexibility there is and what is possible,” says Cheniere’s Chief Business Officer. Anatol Feygin.
However, he said, the market is reacting quickly to rising gas prices in Europe.
Cheniere is the most important player in the United States, not only because of its size but also because of its history. It was the first company to start exporting gas from the United States to the world market.
The Sabine Pass port in Louisiana was originally designed to import gas. Water cracking technology then revolutionized the domestic gas business, and Cheniere decided to turn the port into a liquefied natural gas export port and began exporting in 2016.
While the U.S. gas sector has grown at an explosive pace, ports are an export bottleneck.
Feygin points out that building import ports in Europe is much faster and cheaper than building gas export ports in the United States.
It is precisely because of construction issues that a concentration of liquefied gas ports has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. In Louisiana and Texas, gas pipelines can often be built within the state, and regulation is more favorable to energy companies.
– If a company has a viable project plan with market support, other things such as obtaining permits and finding gas for sale are relatively easy, Feygin describes.
Still, it will take years to build natural gas liquefaction and export ports.
Cheniere is currently building an expansion to its export port in Texas. It is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Gas projects have problems in Pennsylvania
In the southeastern United States, gas exports are stalled. The gas field in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia has been difficult to market.
Part of the difficulty is that piping the deposit to ports often requires cross-border gas pipelines, which in turn requires federal permits.
The Biden administration has generally tried to prevent the construction of fossil fuel-related infrastructure by denying permits for oil pipelines, for example. The government’s actions contribute to the financing of fossil fuel-related projects.