American LNG: After 'Drill, Baby, Drill' It's Finally 'Sell, Baby, Sell' Time Again

AP photo/Eric Gay, File

European allies, who had famously tied their fortunes against wise counsel to the contrary, to the Russian fossil fuel industry by buying into the Nord Stream pipeline...

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...suffered greatly for their arrogance when that same pipeline mysteriously and spectacularly went POOF!

SO SAD - WHAT TO DO

The answer, obviously, was to sell the Europeans our own liquified natural gas (LNG), of which we have an abundance.

As they were also embroiled in the middle of what we were constantly reminded was a Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Europe, and the Biden administration needed to do everything they could to support our allies while keeping the Russians poor for lack of income through sanctions on their fuel industry.

LNG quickly became darn near one of the most valuable commodities in the world.

Now POTATUS had always been hostile to fossil fuels, campaigning on the same and plaguing the industry with proposed regulations and restrictions from day 1.

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Ukraine at war and Europe in an energy hurt locker was a horse of a different color, one would have thought.

Inexplicably, in January of last year, POTATUS caved to environmentalists and suddenly paused American LNG shipments to the continent.

The Europeans talked bravely but had a serious case of 'WTFO, dude!'

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday paused approvals for pending and future applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG)from new projects, a move cheered by climate activists that could delay decisions on new plants until after the Nov. 5 election.
The Department of Energy (DOE) will conduct a review during the pause that will look at the economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval to export LNG to Europe and Asia where the fuel is in hot demand.

The review will take months and then will be open to public comment which will take more time, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters in a teleconference.
Biden said in a statement: "During this period, we will take a hard look at the impacts of LNG exports on energy costs, America's energy security, and our environment."
The pause "sees the climate crisis for what it is: the existential threat of our time," said Biden, a Democrat.

GULP

...Companies and countries in Europe rely on steady supplies of LNG from the U.S., which became world's top LNG exporter last year, as the region tries to wean itself off pipelined gas from Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. U.S. allies in Asia also covet LNG as they seek to slow coal consumption.

A spokesperson for the European Commission, noting the exemption for national security emergencies, told Reuters, "This pause will not have any short- to medium-term impacts on the EU's security of supply."
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Never fear, though. The Europeans have always been flexible. Can't get enough American LNG for their needs?

No worries. They'll say, 'Putin is Satan! FREE UKRAINE!' out of one side of their mouths while asking, 'Please, sir - may we have another shipment?' of his LNG with the other.

They've been doing it the whole time.

...Europe spent $255B on Russian energy and totalled $893B since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.  

On the other hand, Europe has provided Ukraine $73B in aid, of which 35% are loans, and $53B in military aid.   

At what point does the level of absurdity reach a tipping point? Europe has funded both sides of the war.  

They virtue signal over Ukraine while simultaneously bankrolling Russia’s war machine.

Biden's craven cave to the cultists gave them even more leeway to do so.

It took six months, and the harm was already done when a federal judge in Louisiana stepped in with an injunction after 16 states banded together to fight the freeze.

A federal judge in Louisiana on Monday put the Energy Department’s pause on natural gas export permits on hold, dealing another legal blow to the Biden administration’s climate agenda.

Judge James Cain of the Western District of Louisiana, a Trump appointee, granted a request for a stay from 16 red states that had challenged the pause, arguing it will harm their economies.

The decision to stay the LNG pause upends one of Joe Biden’s major policy nods to climate-focused activists who have accused the president of not doing enough to mitigate planet-warming emissions despite Democrats passing the largest investment in climate in history via the Inflation Reduction Act.


Cain ruled that DOE failed to justify why it needed to pause approvals to review the process by which it permits projects.

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The November 5th election sounded the death knell for the LNG pause.

How soon could they get things ramped back up? How soon could they get the LNG processing plants that had been planned but put on hold because of it cranking?

They went into overdrive.

Russia is being put on notice that its dominance in the region is coming to an end as American exports of LNG to Europe surge.

After declining sales to Europe during the second half of 2024, LNG from the U.S. is again in high demand on the continent.

In February, 82 percent of U.S. exports, equivalent to 6.82 million tonnes, went to Europe, Reuters reports. This follows an even higher figure of 7.25 million tonnes, accounting for 86 percent, during the previous month.

Strong prices and persistent cold temperatures help explain the demand push.

The U.S. continues to solidify its position as the world’s largest exporter of the supercooled gas, just a decade or so after entering the market in earnest. 

The first two months of 2025 may signal a trend reversal for European imports. In 2024 U.S. deliveries to the continent fell by 18 percent in contrast to supplies from Russia, which surged an equal 18 percent, primarily from the Yamal LNG plant. 

Things were starting to look up in January.

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In February, Trump signed a deal with the Japanese for Alaskan LNG, too.

The Secretaries of Energy and Interior were in Louisiana today to wish a Germany-bound tanker bon voyage.

It's kind of ironic about that German destination, considering who the president of the US is now. 

That snotty Teutonic bunch is always lecturing and virtue signaling while doing the dirtiest deals under the table.

...There are alternatives. Europe did use nuke reactors at one point. They could buy LNG from the US. There are ways to strangle Russia economically.. But nope..  

So who is trying to bring about peace?

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Trump's got their number now, and I think I can hear him in my head.

He's going to send them the biggest, most beautiful boats full of the best, purest gas they've ever seen - American gas.

He's going to flood them with it.

We are SO back

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | March 07, 2025
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