Mayor Dewey Bartlett will encourage mayors across the country to join in an effort to strengthen the US economy by encouraging the Department of Energy to accelerate permits for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports.
The Department of Energy has released its report on the economic impact of LNG exports, and is currently seeking comments. Bartlett is encouraging mayors to make their positions known on this national economic development opportunity. He has written a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Mayors in Oklahoma City and in the southern, oil-rich states of Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, are also joining in by writing their own letters to Secretary Chu. Bartlett announced the effort today (Thursday, Jan. 17) to coincide with U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington D.C.
Bartlett said the U.S. Department of Energy report, conducted by NERA Economic Consulting, and a report issued by Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions found that LNG exports will have a positive economic impact on the nation and stated that resources are in abundant supply to provide LNG abroad and at home without prompting sharp price increases. The DOE has begun to issue licenses for the export of liquefied natural gas, however, there is no timeline for the process and permitting decisions.
“The studies are in. Research by both Deloitte and the Department of Energy has proven U.S. LNG exporting is good policy,” Bartlett said. “I don’t know why we would want to wait.”
Letters to U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu have requested that the D.O.E. expedite the process and establish satisfactory deadlines for permit and licensing approvals.
“In our collective view, it is time to bring a renewed sense of urgency to the approval process,” Bartlett wrote in a letter to Chu this week. “We have watched as Canada and Australia aggressively develop their LNG exports plans with the encouragement of each of their governments. In fact, it is estimated that more than 2 percent of the GDP in Australia will be tied to LNG exports after 2016.”
Bartlett said the time has come to allow US industry to begin implementing their export plans and secure the United States’ oil and gas industry’s place in the LNG export markets.