Texas To Take Center Stage In US LNG Exports
This past weekend marked the arrival of a LNG tanker for the first time along the Texas coast, arriving at Cheniere Energy’s LNG export terminal in Corpus Christi. This is one of several LNG export facilities proposed along the coast that will allow for Texas natural gas to be exported throughout the world, including to countries currently relying on Russian gas.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has traveled throughout those countries, meeting with officials in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and the Czech Republic to promote U.S. LNG exports. In a recent speech, Perry stated:
“I was over in the Central European region, and there’s going to be some countries over there buying our products. They understand cost is just one factor here, but I talked to them about the diversity of supply and suppliers.”
The Texas coast is undergoing infrastructure improvements to take the lead on American natural gas exports, including widening and deepening of the Port of Corpus Christi. Sean Strawbridge, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi, recently praised these efforts:
“The great state of Texas has invested billions of dollars in its coastal infrastructure — in its ports, its harbors, its navigable channels. It’s got 18 port authorities and six deep-draft ports. It’s got a huge inter-coastal infrastructure.”
Stawbridge also pointed to the many benefits these exports will bring to the Lone Star State:
“Here is a great opportunity for us to generate more revenues that we can then plow into more educational programs, more environmental restoration programs, more shoreline (barricade-building) programs, more social programs.”
Despite the many benefits of these projects, environmentalists have used scare tactics and false statements to oppose many of these projects. Residents of Corpus Christi have largely rebuked these efforts by out-of-state activists and are welcoming the many benefits of increased development.