Port Arthur LNG Receives Non-FTA Export Authorization from DOE
Last week, Sempra announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued a permit to the company’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 development project to allow the export of up to 13.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. The non-FTA permit, which is the first issued since the completion of the DOE’s most recent public interest study, is a major regulatory milestone for the proposed Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project. Read More “Port Arthur LNG Receives Non-FTA Export Authorization from DOE”
Did you know that there are eight LNG export terminals currently in operation in the U.S. with a combined export capacity of 14.43 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d)? There are another eight LNG projects currently approved and under construction with a combined additional capacity of 17.43 Bcf/d. That’s right, all of the facilities under construction will more than double our current LNG exporting capacity! In addition to all of that, there are another 12 facilities approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) but not yet under construction. If they were to be built, add another massive 17.65 Bcf/d. Astonishing! We have maps with the names, locations,m and capacities for all LNG export facilities either in operation or planned. 
We need a scorecard to keep track of all the ups and downs at the problem-plagued Freeport LNG export facility, located near Galveston, Texas. We don’t think it’s a stretch to say the plant, which is the third-largest LNG export plant in the U.S., has been down almost as much as it has been up since first coming online in 2019 (
On May 22, the International Gas Union (IGU) released its 16th annual 2025 World LNG Report, the world’s most comprehensive public source of information on key developments and trends in the LNG sector (full copy below). According to the report, today’s LNG market is “poised to evolve rapidly” as commercial, political, regulatory, and environmental factors offer opportunities. However, the LNG market is “also fraught with uncertainty.” 
Freeport LNG’s export terminal with three liquefaction “trains” completely shut down (all three trains) in June 2022 after an explosion and fire (see 
The Marcellus/Utica region is the United States’ top natural gas production area, accounting for about one-third of the country’s daily output. Natural gas production in the M-U has soared from 2 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) to over 33 Bcf/d today in the past 15 years. Growth has slowed in recent years due to pipeline constraints, but new pipeline projects, rising Gulf Coast LNG demand, and in-basin data center development could drive a resurgence. Despite past challenges like canceled pipelines and a focus on the Permian, our region’s vast potential and improving infrastructure suggest a breakout, according to RBN Energy. However, low gas prices and regulatory hurdles remain big concerns, though data centers and LNG exports could boost demand significantly. 
In January 2024, the sleazeballs that operated Joe Biden’s autopen slapped a “pause” on allowing the Department of Energy (DOE) to review and issue export approvals for any new LNG export facilities (see 
Last December, MDN told you that the future of what could become the country’s largest LNG export facility, Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), was in question following a court order from the the leftwing U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (see 
Energy Transfer’s (ET) Lake Charles LNG project is in the news again. In April, we told you that ET had landed a new partner to help pay for the project, MidOcean Energy, which will cover 30% of the cost of building the plant (see 
Speaking of gas turbines and our current inability to produce them quickly enough, we came across a somewhat related story from Reuters. The reporters from Reuters are sounding the alarm that U.S. LNG export facilities may soon have to compete for natural gas supplies with power plants needed to power AI data centers. The result is that the price of natural gas will increase, and in some cases, it may not be available for exports. Of course, the free market (capitalism) will sort this out on its own, but in the meantime, there may be some tension. 
The Trump administration recently issued rules that require at least 1% of the natural gas shipped overseas to be carried on U.S.-built tankers, beginning in 2029. The U.S. is the world’s number one global exporter of LNG (liquefied natural gas). However, the U.S. does not build *any* of the specialized LNG cargo carriers used to send that fuel abroad. In a letter to the Trump administration last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) stated that the oil and gas industry could not comply with the rule and urged Trump officials to reconsider it. 
Reuters is reporting that the European Union (we call them ‘Euro weenies’) is looking at ways to make it easier for U.S. LNG exports to comply with its onerous new methane emissions regulations. The EU is earnestly trying to avoid a trade war with President Trump, according to sources speaking to Reuters. What’s happening is that Europe is trying to figure out how it can not block U.S. LNG based on its cockamamie new regulations and save face at the same time. 
Energy Transfer’s (ET) Lake Charles LNG project is in the news again. Last week we told you that ET had landed a new partner to help pay for the project, MidOcean Energy, which will cover 30% of the cost of building the plant (see 
After liquefying and exporting over 400 cargoes of LNG from March 1, 2022, through this month, Venture Global says its Calcasieu Pass (CP) LNG export facility in Louisiana is now officially open for business—three years after it began shipping LNG. Venture Global claimed the CP facility was not commercially ready until now. Venture Global has been selling cargo after cargo of LNG on the open “spot” market, making two, three, or four times the money it could make by selling the cargoes to its legally contracted customers at a predetermined price. At last count, Venture Global has made over $20 billion by selling cargoes on the open spot market.