The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday it had authorized more exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Cheniere Energy terminals in Sabine Pass, Louisiana, and Corpus Christi in Texas.
The authorizations give the terminals the flexibility to export the equivalent of 720 million cubic feet of LNG a day to any country with which the United States does not have a free trade agreement, including all of Europe.
In addition, all LNG export projects in operation are approved to export their full capacity to any country not prohibited by US law or monetary policy, according to the government.
Republican parliamentarians and representatives of the energy industry have called on the Biden administration to increase exports of natural gas and oil to its allies, especially as Europe faces an energy crisis as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The United States is currently the world’s number one exporter of LNG and is expected to ship 20% more than it does now by the end of this year.