The process for projects with firm contracts
A top Energy Department official hinted Tuesday that the Obama administration could issue licenses to export natural gas every two months, while acknowledging that some companies are pressing to speed up the process for projects with firm contracts and solid financing.
The comments by Christopher Smith, the acting assistant secretary for fossil energy, shed new light on how the administration might scrutinize 19 pending applications to export natural gas to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the United States.
So far, the Energy Department has blessed two such projects - Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass terminal in western Louisiana, which secured an export license last year, and the Freeport LNG terminal on Quintana Island southwest of Houston, granted conditional export approval on Friday.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, who was sworn in Tuesday, reaffirmed to reporters that he plans to review economic data on natural gas exports before the department acts on any of the remaining applications.
Separately, during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee roundtable, Smith said that the Energy Department issued Freeport LNG's conditional approval roughly two months after a public comment period closed. When Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, questioned whether a continual 60-day process is possible, Smith signaled that would be the timeline going forward.