Congress looks to boost LNG shipments to Europe

Fuel Fix:
Two days after President Donald Trump's controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, some Senate Republicans are looking to hit Russia where it hurts - it's energy sector.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced legislation Wednesday calling for the Department of Energy to speed up approval of LNG exports to Europe, where Russia has long had a strangle hold on natural gas supplies. Likewise, the bill would authorize U.S. sanctions on Russian energy projects, including the planned Nordstream 2 pipeline, which would run across the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.

"It is in the national security interests of our country to help our allies reduce their dependence on Russian energy," Barrasso said on the senate floor. ""Where those countries don't see it for themselves, we need to show them how important it is for their own security."
...
Under the legislation, U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchinson, the former Texas senator, would be directed to encourage members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to work with the United States to "achieve energy security for its members and partners in Europe and Eurasia."

"Russia continues to undermine peace and security in Europe through a variety of mechanisms, including its use of energy as a geopolitical weapon," reads a summary of the legislation, written by senate staff.

An increase in LNG exports to Europe would be a big boon for Texas oil and gas companies, which are increasingly moving to ship the glut of U.S. natural gas overseas.
...
This is an interesting way to call the Democrats bluff on their Russia, Russia, Russia hysteria.  The Obama administration had slow rolled an blocked past attempts to export natural gas to Europe and most of the opposition came from Democrats in the Northeast.  The move is of strategic importance to both Europe and the US and it would isolate the Germans who have become more reliant on Russian gas.

Texas is expanding its capacity to export LNG.

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