The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an order granting Jordan Cove Energy Project’s (JCEP) request to amend its existing authority to export LNG to nations with a Free Trade Agreement with the United States from its proposed LNG terminal at Coos Bay, Ore.  The order resets the date by which LNG exports must commence from December 7, 2021 to July 20, 2028, and lowers the authorized LNG export volume from 438 Bcf/yr to 395 Bcf/yr to match the terminal capacity reflected in JCEP’s renewed application pending before FERC for authorization to construct the terminal facility.

Reuters reports that contrary to recent statements by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that the EU would build more terminals to handle America’s LNG, and by President Trump that Europe would be a massive buyer of U.S. LNG, the reality is that “three-quarters of Europe’s existing import facilities lie empty while demand for U.S. LNG on the continent remains limited.  The most lucrative markets for U.S. LNG are in South and Central America, India and the Far East, with Europe near the bottom of the pile given its relatively low prices and ample supplies of gas via pipelines from Russia and Norway.”

The Hill reports that today the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a final rule under which DOE “will automatically approve gas export applications if they would be at or below 51.75 billion cubic feet of exports per year and do not rise to the level of requiring an environmental review.” The rule also covers LNG exports.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and FERC announced last week that they “have agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would refine and reduce the permit application review process for proposed LNG facilities. . . . The MOU will clarify each agency’s respective role in the permitting process for potential LNG projects, and implement procedures into the FERC’s authorization process that will leverage PHMSA’s safety expertise to evaluate potential impact to public safety.” The signing of the MOU will be announced at a later date.

Kinder Morgan announced that the initial in-service date for its liquefaction and LNG export terminal at Elba Island, near Savannah, Ga., has been pushed back one quarter to the fourth quarter of 2018. With an anticipated liquefaction capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per year, final units at the facility are expected to come online by the third quarter of 2019. The project is supported by a 20-year contract with Shell.

Bloomberg reports that Woodside Petroleum Ltd. has announced that it will not participate in the development of Sempra Energy’s proposed Port Arthur LNG liquefaction facility and export terminal in Port Arthur, Texas. Woodside Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman is quoted as saying, “[i]t got to a point where it got below our investment returns and we said we need to put our money somewhere else.” In February 2016, Woodside entered into a Project Development Agreement with Sempra LNG & Midstream to advance the development of the project.

On July 17, 2018, FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre issued a press release stating that in the last few days FERC has “made truly significant strides in reforming the [LNG facility] permitting process with our federal partners, eliminating duplicative efforts and instituting a streamlined procedure that will significantly reduce our LNG permitting timelines.” McIntyre added that “we expect to have a formalized agreement in place in the coming days.” McIntyre’s statement also noted that recent media reports of FERC letters announcing delays in the processing of LNG terminal applications were incorrect: “FERC has issued no such letter,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued an advisory opinion stating that LNG shipments from the United States to the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Cuba would not constitute an “export” subject to DOE’s jurisdiction under Natural Gas Act section 3(a).

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) has issued a policy statement regarding long-term authorizations to export LNG to nations without a Free Trade Agreement (non-FTA nations) with the United States.  DOE/FE states that it wishes to allay concerns of potential importers of U.S. LNG and financiers of LNG export projects about the security of existing (or future) non-FTA export authorizations, and therefore “affirms its commitment to all export authorizations issued under the [Natural Gas Act], including long-term authorizations approving the export of LNG to non-FTA countries….  Authorization holders, as well as any interested stakeholders, thus should have the utmost confidence in the validity of DOE/FE’s LNG export authorizations for the full term of each non-FTA order.”  Further, while “DOE preserves its authority to take action as necessary or appropriate to carry out its duties under the NGA, [it] does not foresee a scenario where it would rescind one or more non-FTA authorizations.”

On July 10, 2018, LNG Law Blog reported that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) had issued an order authorizing Galveston Bay LNG, LLC to export up to 785.5 Bcf/year (2.15 Bcf/day) of domestically produced LNG over 20 years by vessel to both nations with and without a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States.   The order authorizes Galveston Bay LNG to export the LNG only to nations with an FTA with the United States.  The order states that DOE will address Galveston Bay LNG’s request to export LNG to non-FTA nations in a separate order.