WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today welcomed the Department of Energy (DOE) approval of a conditional license for Jordan Cove Energy Project to export liquefied natural gas from Oregon, but cautioned against any delays to the review of other projects in the queue.

“Given the situation in Ukraine, this license sends a positive signal to our allies and to energy markets that the United States is ready to join the growing global gas trade,” Murkowski said. “While this license moves us in the right direction, I would be strongly opposed to any ‘pause for further study,’ as some have proposed.”

DOE on Monday approved a license for an export facility in Jordan Cove, Oregon. The license, which is conditional upon additional approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, authorizes up to 800 million cubic feet per day of liquefied natural gas to be exported to nations not party to U.S. free-trade agreements (FTA). Jordan Cove is the seventh non-FTA export authorization by DOE.

After approving Cheniere’s Sabine Pass project in 2011, DOE temporarily halted its review of export licenses to assess the potential economic impacts. NERA Economic Consulting was hired to study the issue and found under every scenario that LNG exports would benefit the United States. NERA updated its original report this month and reached the same conclusions.

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.

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