Oregon LNG wins DoE exports approval

Oregon LNG has received authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S.

The approval comes notwithstanding recently announced modifications to DOE’s licensing review process and adds strong momentum to Oregon LNG’s project, which is one of the most advanced in the review process conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

“We applaud the DOE decision which places Oregon LNG in a very small group of projects in North America that have received conditional DOE approval for non-FTA exports,” said Peter Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of Oregon LNG. This approval allows the largest Asian buyers to purchase from Oregon LNG, which already has authorization to ship to any of the twenty nations with which the U.S. has an FTA.

“DOE approval is an important step towards the development of a project that will improve energy security for many of our country’s key trading partners while simultaneously providing Oregon with significant economic benefits and growth opportunities,” explains Hansen.

“Oregon is one of the nation’s most trade-dependent states, with trade supporting almost 500,000 Oregon jobs in 2012,” Hansen noted.

“The Oregon LNG project will strengthen Oregon’s overall economy and its position in international trade,” he adds.

The $6.3 billion project will create more than 3,000 direct construction jobs with specific amounts of project spending to be directed towards small, local businesses. Also, the project has agreed to create new opportunities for minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses. More than 150 highly-paid workers will run the plant on an ongoing basis, and the Oregon LNG project will create more than 1,500 additional indirect and induced jobs in the region.

Canada’s National Energy Board recently authorized Oregon LNG to source from Canada, the majority of the natural gas to be exported through the proposed terminal, which means that the Warrenton facility could be operated with little or no impact on the price or supply of U.S. natural gas. The Oregon LNG project will have the lowest pipeline transportation cost from Canadian gas fields of any West Coast project.

Press Release, August 1, 2014