WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources welcomed recent progress by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Department of Energy (DOE) toward approving additional exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States.

Yesterday, FERC granted siting approval for the Freeport LNG Facility in Freeport, Texas. Earlier today, DOE provided conditional export license approval for the Oregon LNG Facility in Warrenton, Oregon – the next project in its processing queue.

“These steps by FERC and DOE demonstrate that responsibly exporting LNG is clearly in the national interest of the United Sates,” Sen. Landrieu said. “DOE and FERC need to maintain positive momentum for additional LNG exports and to process outstanding applications efficiently.”

Sen. Landrieu has led the effort to secure regulatory approval for LNG permit applications in Congress. Earlier this week, Sen. Landrieu called on DOE to issue final export approval Sempra’s Cameron LNG facility in Hackberry, La. as soon as possible. In June, after Sen. Landrieu called on FERC to issue final approval for the facility, it issued its final approval one week later.

In February, Sen. Landrieu wrote to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, encouraging swift approval of Cameron LNG’s export license. The following day, after waiting more than two years for approval, Cameron LNG received the DOE’s approval.