LNG

That’s a picture of the Freeport, Texas LNG terminal as viewed from the campground at Quintana County Park.  We sat in the shade of our 5th wheel and watched that big ship fill up with gas a couple years ago.

News from Washington this past week means that the terminal is going to get busier.

The Energy Department on Friday conditionally approved a Texas company’s proposal to export liquefied natural gas, only the second such project allowed to move forward amid a production boom that has led to glut of domestic natural gas.

The action would allow Freeport LNG Expansion L.P. to export up to 1.4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day from its terminal near Freeport, Texas. The DOE said granting such a permit for shipments to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S. was in the public interest.

Energy companies are seeking federal permits for more than 20 export projects that could handle as much as 29 billion cubic feet of LNG a day.

A drilling boom has lowered natural gas prices while boosting production by one-third since 2005. Natural gas production reached an all-time high of 25.3 trillion cubic feet last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.