DOE approves second gas export terminal in Oregon

The Department of Energy (DOE) gave conditional approval to a second Oregon facility to export liquefied natural gas to countries that don’t have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S.

Earlier this year the department conditionally authorized the planned Jordan Cove gas export terminal in Coos Bay, Ore., making it the seventh export facility to get approval from the administration.

{mosads}The facility approved Thursday is the Oregon LNG Terminal in Warrenton, and is authorized to export up to 1.25 billion standard cubic feet per day of natural gas for 20 years. It is the eighth facility the DOE has conditionally approved to export to countries without a trade agreement.

Calls to expedite the administration’s process for approving natural gas exports to non-FTA countries gained momentum on Capitol Hill after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, limiting Ukraine’s natural gas supply.

The DOE announced it would streamline its process for approval for natural gas facilities in May, requiring environmental reviews be completed at an earlier stage.

The department noted that the Oregon project did not go through the new expedited process. The terminal must still go through an environmental and regulatory review by the department

“The Energy Department conducted an extensive, careful review of the application to export LNG from the Oregon LNG Terminal,” DOE said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the facility was consistent with public interest.