Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized the Biden administration’s regulatory policies and argued it is holding back his state’s vast energy sector from providing natural gas to alleviate Europe’s price pain.
Abbott, who is up for reelection this year, said natural gas liquefied and then shipped from Texas ports could be of special help to European allies who are facing steep energy prices across the board amid doubts about supplies from Russia as it invades Ukraine. He specifically knocked the Biden administration for moving too slowly in approving new gas infrastructure to enable more growth.
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“The only things that they have done that hinders the ability for Texas to get energy out to whether it be the country or the world is slowing the permitting process on things like [liquefied natural gas],” Abbott told the Washington Examiner.
Total interstate gas pipeline capacity additions decreased in 2021, and added capacity fell to its lowest since 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, responsible for approving interstate energy infrastructure projects, also just introduced new regulations to more strictly consider a prospective project’s effects on the environment and local populations in determining whether it is in the public interest. The new policy statements have been slammed by Republicans and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who say they introduce more uncertainty for investors and raise prices.
The United States, which in December surpassed top competitors Qatar and Australia to become the world’s leading LNG exporter, currently has eight operative LNG export terminals. The bulk of these are located on the Gulf Coast.
Another 14 export projects were approved but not yet under construction, while six were proposed but not approved as of Feb. 17, according to numbers provided by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“Maybe one of the primary reasons why the war is occurring between Russia and Ukraine is because Russia had the entire European region tied to Russia for energy,” Abbott said, noting Texas could change that with quicker project approvals.
Abbott also said officials in his state have met with counterparts in the European Union about increasing oil and gas exports to the region as it plots a breakup with Russian fossil fuels.
“We are in visits with people in the EU region about their need to be receiving [liquefied natural gas] from Texas,” he said. “We need to wean the EU off of Russian energy; that energy should be from Texas.”
In the lead-up to the Russia-Ukraine war, President Joe Biden and European leaders emphasized the EU should work to dissolve its entrenched relationship with Russian energy sources. That campaign has only picked up momentum since Russian troops invaded and spiked natural gas prices briefly to more than 20 times the U.S. benchmark.
Many lawmakers of both parties, the domestic oil and gas industry, and other conservative policy groups also make the same case that U.S. fossil fuels should be expanded to replace Russian ones in the global market.
Meanwhile, Republicans have taken special aim at the Biden administration’s energy policies for standing in the way of that, also implicating its restrictions on new leasing of federal lands for oil and gas development and FERC’s new policies as being responsible for inhibiting price relief.
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For example, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, the site of two of the country’s largest LNG export terminals, has been promoting an “Operation Warp Speed” for energy to permit gas pipelines and export facilities more quickly, similar to how the Trump administration did for COVID-19 vaccine development.
