U.S Senator Markey Asks Obama to Review Safety of Yemeni LNG Imports

Citing increased terrorism activity in Yemen, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), member of the Foreign Relations Committee, asked President Barack Obama to direct the U.S. Coast Guard to review security procedures for shipments of natural gas from the Middle East nation delivered to a terminal in Everett, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston.

Senator Markey, a leading advocate of limiting liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, today also questioned the continued approval of LNG export terminals in light of fact that New England continues to rely heavily on imported natural gas, including from the terrorist haven of Yemen.

“The ongoing security threats in Yemen raise real questions about whether it is safe and reliable for tankers to continue delivering LNG shipments to the Port of Boston’s Everett LNG import terminal,” writes Senator Markey to President Obama. “I ask that you direct the United States Coast Guard to reexamine whether the security measures that are in place for tankers transporting LNG from Yemen into the United States are sufficient. I also ask that you direct the Department of Energy to reevaluate the implications of permitting exports of domestically produced natural gas on our ability to reduce U.S. imports of natural gas from unsafe or unstable regions such as Yemen.”

Over the last two weeks, the United States has closed its embassy in Yemen and conducted an escalating number of drone strikes against targets in the country. Reports indicate that a plot by al Qaeda to attack oil and gas infrastructure in Yemen was foiled.

The letter notes that the LNG import terminal in Everett has been the busiest LNG import facility in the United States for each of the past five years, with nearly 40 percent of all U.S. LNG imports arriving through the terminal during this period. In order to deliver gas to the Everett terminal, LNG tankers must travel through Boston Harbor and dock close to residential neighborhoods, an issue that has caused concern as the threat of terrorism has grown. Compounding these concerns is the fact that the Everett terminal receives significant quantities of LNG from Yemen. Most recently, the Everett terminal received a shipment of 2.7 billion cubic feet (bcf) of LNG from Yemen in January.

Yet last week, even as terrorism concerns spiked in Yemen, the Department of Energy approved yet another export terminal in Louisiana to send more American natural gas abroad. It is the third such terminal approved in recent months. In the letter to the president, Senator Markey notes that it is his belief “that using our domestically produced natural gas here in America to reduce our dependence on foreign supplies from unstable and unsafe regions should take precedence over any plans to export U.S. natural gas abroad. The deteriorating security situation in Yemen only serves to highlight and heighten this imperative.”