Large, industrial users of energy are frowning on the Trump administration's attempt to make natural gas exports a key part of its pro-growth agenda, warning that it will hurt U.S. manufacturing and reduce jobs in the long run.
"Excessive [liquefied natural gas] export approvals by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement is inconsistent with President Trump's 'America First' and 'fair-trade' policies, and poses a significant long-term threat to energy-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) industries' competitiveness and jobs," said Paul Cicio, president of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America, in a letter to the secretaries of energy and commerce, Rick Perry and Wilbur Ross, respectively.
A 100-year supply of natural gas is a "myth," if the rate at which natural gas is slated to be exported is achieved, Cicio said. He cited recent Energy Information Administration projections that supported only 12 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas exports through 2050. The projection "demonstrates that 56 percent of all natural gas resources will be consumed in that time frame," he wrote." For companies that build facilities to last 50 years or more, that is of great concern.
Some of the businesses that Cicio's group represents are large chemical companies that rely on steady and cheap sources of natural gas as a feedstock. The recent shale energy boom has caused many companies that had proposed building facilities outside of the country to return to the U.S. because of the low cost and adequate supplies of natural gas that now exist.
But that could change. The amount of natural gas that the Energy Department is approving for export is now equal to 20.6 billion cubic feet in volume per day, nearly double what the Energy Information Administration projected out to 2050. Cicio said the current rate of natural gas exports "is equal to 170 percent of today's total residential demand."
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01.18.2025