DOE Authorizes Elba Island LNG Exports to Non-FTA Nations
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an order authorizing Southern LNG Company, L.L.C. to export over 20 years up to 130 Bcf/year of LNG from its LNG export terminal at Elba Island, near Savannah, Ga. to nations without a Free Trade Agreement (non-FTA nations) with the United States. The volume authorized for export is the same as authorized for LNG exports from the Elba Island terminal to nations with an FTA with the United States and is not additive. In approving the exports, DOE rejected arguments by the American Public Gas Association and Sierra Club alleging that “the proposed exports will not yield net economic benefits or that the proposed exports will produce deleterious economic and societal impacts” and Sierra Club’s arguments regarding the potential for environmental harm caused by induced gas production.