WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today commended Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz for working through the backlog of applications to export liquefied natural gas to countries without a free-trade agreement with the United States.

“Secretary Moniz and the Department of Energy have taken a judicious approach to the consideration of these applications,” Murkowski said. “This progress is welcome but we cannot afford to pause or delay consideration of the remaining outstanding applications.”

DOE on Tuesday approved a license for Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana to expand its export of LNG up to 1.7 billion cubic feet a day to nations not party to U.S. free trade agreements. It is the sixth time that DOE has approved a non-FTA export authorization since 2011. There are currently 20 export applications pending before the department.

“The Department of Energy has once again confirmed the economic and geopolitical benefits of exporting liquefied natural gas to our allies overseas,” Murkowski said. “Given the positive impacts on job creation, trade, and economic growth, the Obama administration must continue to improve the nation’s export capacity. Too much is at stake for parochial politics to triumph over the common good.”

In August, Murkowski, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, released The Narrowing Window: America’s Opportunity to Join the Global Gas Trade, a white paper outlining her support for exporting LNG to non-free trade agreement countries. Since that white paper was released, the Department of Energy has issued four LNG export licenses for 4.9 billion cubic feet per day. By comparison, Canada issued four LNG export licenses for nearly 10 billion cubic feet per day in December alone. 

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