Input Stories

There’s more good news for liquefied natural gas (POLITICO Pro, subscription). 
 
What’s going on: In an NAM-supported move Wednesday, the Trump administration announced that it had conditionally approved an LNG export permit for the long-stalled CP2 project in Louisiana, which could export up to 3.96 billion cubic feet of LNG per day once operational.  

• Work on the under-construction CP2, or Calcasieu Pass, in Cameron Parish was stalled under the previous administration’s LNG export permit ban, which President Trump lifted on the first day of his second term.   

The details: “The move conditionally provides CP2 authorization to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries from the proposed project. The department said it expects to issue a final order in the coming months.”

• The DOE’s cited reasons for granting the conditional authorization echo the many advantages of LNG exports listed by the NAM in its recent comments to the agency. “CP2 LNG’s non-FTA exports are likely to yield economic benefits to the United States, diversify global LNG supplies and improve energy security for U.S. allies and trading partners over the course of the export term,” according to the approval.  

Why it’s critical: “The benefits of expanding U.S. LNG exports have never been more clear, and I am proud to be taking action to support the American people and our allies abroad with more affordable, reliable, secure American energy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. 

• CP2’s output “could supply about 5% of the world’s LNG by 2026” (The Wall Street Journal, subscription).  
• In June 2024, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm, DTEK, signed a deal with Venture Global to buy LNG from CP2—but the deal was hamstrung by the then-in-place moratorium.  

Our view: “Manufacturers welcome yet another critical action by [President Trump] and [Secretary Wright] to unleash American energy dominance and supercharge economic growth by approving an LNG export authorization for [Venture Global]’s CP2 LNG project in the great state of Louisiana,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons wrote in a Wednesday social post.