Comment: We remind our Canadian and U.S. readers that with so much North American oil and gas existing and potential production and with so many more LNG export projects than the market can accommodate, any major news such as the Alaska LNG export approval today affects investors, jobs, treasuries and economies in both countries.  -dh


US SENATOR LISA MURKOWSKI, Approve Alaska LNG Exports, Approve Repeal of Oil Export Ban, Photo by Dave HarbourBREAKING NEWS TODAY!  U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today cheered the Department of Energy’s approval of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export license for Alaska’s massive North Slope natural gas resources.  READ ENTIRE STATEMENT HERE…. 


Robert Dillon, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, lift crude oil export ban, Lisa Murkowski, Photo by Dave HarbourOur friend, Robert Dillon (NGP Photo), of Senator Lisa Murkowski's Energy and Natural Resources Committee writes this morning of the article below: "From this morning’s edition of The Hill: “Ending the export ban creates a global market for U.S. oil that will increase production and stabilize prices. The U.S. once dominated the energy markets, with the right policies it can do so again.” 

The Hill by Dr. Merrill Matthews.  Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), along with 10 other Senate cosponsors, have introduced the Energy Supply Distribution Act (S. 1312), whose primary purpose is to end the 40-year ban on exporting U.S. crude oil.

Congress passed a crude oil export ban in 1975 as an understandable, if ineffective, response to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ efforts to use access to crude oil as a political weapon.

OPEC’s decision to cut back oil production left the U.S. with higher gas prices and often long gas lines.  For one of the first times Americans felt the helplessness that comes when foreign countries had us at their mercy.

U.S. oil production had already been declining, having reached its peak in 1970 with an average of 9,637 million barrels of oil per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  By 1975 production had declined by 1.3 million barrels a day.  (Read entire article here….)                                          


Washington, D.C.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today cheered the Department of Energy’s approval of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export license for Alaska’s massive North Slope natural gas resources. 

“Receiving the conditional license to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries is a major milestone for the Alaska LNG project and great news for Alaska,” Murkowski said. “With federal permission in place, those working on the project have the ability to begin selling Alaska gas in the Asian markets. With this project comes good jobs and a stronger economy and I’m excited to see Alaska at the forefront of LNG exports.”

Department of Energy (DOE) officials announced the license approval Thursday morning in Anchorage at a roundtable on the federal permitting process hosted by Murkowski.

The license, which would allow exports of up to 2.55 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day for 30 years, is conditional on final regulatory approval of the project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Alaska LNG Project is currently in the pre-filing process at FERC.

The Alaska LNG Project is a partnership between the state of Alaska, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp., BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and the pipeline company TransCanada.

Murkowski noted that DOE’s 30-year authorization – a full decade longer than typical – was justified by the size and scope of the Alaska LNG Project, which could cost as much as $60 billion.

“The volume of 2.55 BCF a day and the length of this authorization are necessary to support a project of this size and scope,” Murkowski said.

Alaska has 35 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves on the North Slope, and the potential for 200 trillion cubic feet more both onshore and offshore of Alaska’s northern coast. Alaska also has a 44-year history of shipping LNG from Cook Inlet to Asia from Nikiski.

“I have always indicated that coordination at the federal level will be key to the success of an Alaska LNG project. When the prospects for Alaska gas changed from an overland pipeline to an LNG project, the federal tools changed.” Murkowski said. “FERC has the ability to be the lead agency for permitting and play a coordinating role for federal agencies. Further, the Department of the Interior leads an interagency working group established through executive order to support major Alaska projects and can supplement FERC’s lead on an Alaska LNG Project.”

As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Interior and Environmental Appropriations Subcommittee, Murkowski has oversight authority over the federal agencies involved in permitting an export project, including DOE and FERC, and is well positioned to ensure the project continues to advance.