Natural Gas
A good take on exports and trade law
I want to draw your attention to an important policy brief just issued by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which provides further evidence for why natural gas exports present such a valuable economic opportunity for the United States. More than that, the Peterson Institute paper is a valuable read because it provides one of the best distillations that I have seen of the legal and regulatory issues involved with natural gas trade issues.
Energy exports = American job creation
As the national discussion on natural gas policy continues, let me call your attention to some important numbers on job creation and the likely economic benefits of increasing exports of energy products like liquefied natural gas (LNG). Preliminary data from a forthcoming study on the economic ramifications of LNG exports hint at a wide range of benefits from the export opportunities made possible by America’s new abundance of natural gas.
“The most important energy innovation so far of the 21st century”
At a hearing earlier today on Capitol Hill, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Yergin briefed members of Congress on the extraordinary nature of the recent increase in domestic oil and natural gas produced from unconventional sources like shale. I wanted to highlight a few of the points he made to explain why the dramatic increase in production of shale gas and tight oil amounts to “the most important energy innovation of the 21st century.”
Exports debate shows new oil and gas production creating American jobs
This morning, ExxonMobil filed our submission with the U.S Department of Energy for the open-comment period of a recent study on the economic implications of LNG exports. That study concluded that natural gas exports would yield net economic benefits for the United States. Its conclusions also reinforce the fact that the country’s enormous natural gas resource base can support both growing domestic use of natural gas for manufacturing and electricity generation as well as LNG exports.
Honest debate on exports requires adherence to facts
Last week, a small gaggle of companies petitioned the federal government to limit the ability of other companies to export their products – in this case liquefied natural gas (LNG). This small group – which calls itself America’s Energy Advantage (AEA) – is playing a weak hand, given what we know about the economic benefits realized by those nations that embrace free trade. Their anti-exports position is not helped by the “facts” the group is marshaling to defend its position that free trade for energy products will cause economic harm.
Opponents of LNG exports miss the paradigm shift
The technological revolution that has unleashed the tremendous increase in U.S. domestic energy production has turned traditional thinking about America’s energy and economic policies on its head. As a result, in just a short period of time our public policy debates have transitioned from multi-decade discussions of scarcity and limits to growth, to discussions of American energy abundance and the enormous benefits that it can offer. Yet not everyone has gotten that message.
