Sen. John Hoeven told reporters Wednesday that Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has offered to endorse the North Dakota Republican’s legislation to expedite exports of natural gas if Hoeven makes a couple of specific changes.
Hoeven’s bill was scheduled for a Thursday Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee vote, but he said he’d hold it. The legislation aims to speed up export approvals to nations that lack a free-trade agreement with the United States, which face greater Energy Department scrutiny because they must be in the public interest.
“I won’t take it through the committee because he wants some changes, frankly,” Hoeven said. “I’m willing to negotiate those changes if I can get his endorsement on the bill, but it’s got to still be acceptable because I’ve got industry behind me on the bill.”
Hoeven said Moniz is concerned the bill wouldn’t leave DOE enough time to review applicant information needed to satisfy National Environmental Policy Act requirements. Hoeven noted he wasn’t pressed for time this session, as he said a vote during the lame duck was unlikely.
“If I can come up with a certain enough process,” Hoeven said, “Then we may be able to come to an agreement.”
Getting a high-ranking Obama administration official to back the bill would provide significant momentum for export boosters on both sides of the aisle who say the U.S. needs to act quickly before competitors fill the market’s needs. They say expanding exports could give allies leverage against Russia, which controls natural gas supplies in Central and Eastern Europe, while also reducing the trade deficit.
As it stands, Hoeven’s bill would require the DOE to approve or deny applications no more than 45 days after they clear a preliminary application process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which takes about six months. If applicants get that approval, then they’d have more certainty about spending the up to $150 million to complete the rest of the FERC review, which would take up to one more year.
A majority of both chambers supports expanding natural gas exports, though they may disagree over the exact remedy. Some Democrats, however, are concerned sending too much natural gas abroad would raise domestic prices and undercut a competitive advantage U.S. manufacturers.
A pair of studies by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the DOE’s statistics arm, said exports would raise prices but that they would overall provide a net economic benefit.
Obama administration officials also have said shipping natural gas supplies overseas would support geopolitical and foreign policy goals. But industry has criticized the administration because it says the DOE is moving too slowly on applications to send natural gas to nations without a free-trade deal.
The DOE has approved 10.6 billion cubic feet per day of such exports.
Hoeven’s bill is an attempt to address lingering uncertainty from a policy change that DOE enacted to smooth the review process.
The DOE recently ended its policy of “conditionally” approving exports, which it said would help emphasize more shovel-ready projects by eliminating the first-come, first-serve basis upon which DOE evaluated proposals. But industry said that DOE simply moved its approval to the end of the process, which it said still brews uncertainty.
A DOE spokesperson told the Examiner, “Secretary Moniz appreciates that the Senator is willing to continue working with us on this important issue as he considers legislation. As we have been doing, the Department is committed to promptly reviewing applications from LNG applicants once they have completed the NEPA process.”
