APGA Files Motion in Opposition to Sabine Pass LNG Export Application

The American Public Gas Association (APGA) recently filed a motion to intervene in an application filed by Sabine Pass Liquefaction to export approximately 314 Bcf/year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to non-free trade agreement (FTA) countries from the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Cameron Parish, La.

The total LNG export capacity applied for to date is 38.51Bcf/day and 35.86 Bcf/day to FTA and non-FTA nations, respectively.

When an application is filed—in cases where the application is specific to countries that the U.S. has a free trade agreement with—the application is deemed to be consistent with the public interest and granted without modification or delay. In cases where an application is seeking exportation of LNG to countries that the U.S. does not have FTAs with, the burden is on those opposed to the application to demonstrate that the application is not consistent with the public interest.

In its filing, APGA states that the export application is inconsistent with the public interest and should be denied, communicating that exports will “increase domestic natural gas prices, burdening households and jeopardizing potential growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector, as well as the nation’s transition away from more environmentally damaging fossil fuels.”

The filing also expresses concern that if this and other LNG export applications were to be approved, “the resulting increase in natural gas prices would undermine recent investments to expand natural gas as a transportation fuel.”

Source: APGA, April 22, 2014; Image: Cheniere