Unleashing America’s Robust Energy Sector
Mark Green
Posted May 11, 2015
Approving Energy Exports Would Unlock Huge Economic Growth
Breaking Energy Opinion (Thorning): The Department of Energy recently approved an application from Alaska LNG to export natural gas. But there’s a catch: these exports can only go to nations where the United States has a free-trade agreement in place.
Never mind the fact that the top markets for LNG are India, China, and Japan, where we don’t have free-trade agreements set up.So essentially, the company is stuck alongside the 20-plus U.S. natural gas companies that are awaiting approval to sell abroad. Some have been waiting for nearly three years.
Despite the rapid expansion of the American energy sector, the American regulatory apparatus hasn’t kept pace with the industry’s growth. New exploration techniques like fracking have opened up giant swaths of underground energy reserves in places like North Dakota and Pennsylvania. And the operations established to dig up the embedded oil and natural gas have created hundreds of thousands of new jobs and driven billions in new economic activity.
But now, unnecessary regulations are stifling firms with outdated rules. Most notably, the federal approval process energy producers have to navigate in order to sell in foreign markets is extremely restrictive. It’s needlessly difficult for firms to ship surplus oil and gas to eager customers abroad.
The regulatory environment guiding energy exports is literally a relic of another age.
Read more: http://bit.ly/1PBWRgM
More industry news:
- Q&A – One on One With ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance: http://usat.ly/1cIzeqU
- Oil Industry Has Proven Robustness, Efficiency in Face of Low Prices: http://bit.ly/1KXj7ky
- Could ‘Ice That Burns’ Be the Next Step in Natural Gas? http://washex.am/1GYTuvJ
- Pipeline Expansion Could Bring More Shale Gas to Philly: http://n.pr/1E1ZyS0
- Flood of Shale Gas Spilling into Communities Across America: http://onforb.es/1KXfkUb
- Oil Companies Look to Fill Employment Gap with More Women: http://n.pr/1EwquK8
About The Author
Mark Green joined API after a career in newspaper journalism, including 16 years as national editorial writer for The Oklahoman in the paper’s Washington bureau. Previously, Mark was a reporter, copy editor and sports editor at an assortment of newspapers. He earned his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He and his wife Pamela have two grown children and six grandchildren.