WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- Alaskan lawmakers cheered a federal decision that clears the way to send liquefied natural gas from state ports to non-free trade markets in Asia.
The U.S. Energy Department gave conditional consent for the Alaska LNG Project to ship LNG sourced from domestic reserves to countries that don't have a free-trade deal with the United States.
"Receiving the conditional license to export LNG to non-free trade agreement countries is a major milestone for the Alaska LNG project and great news for Alaska," U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chair of the Senate Energy Committee, said in a statement.
The Republican senator's office said Alaska has more than 35 trillion cubic feet of gas on hand on the North Slope. The LNG project, valued at more than $40 billion, includes a gas treatment facility, pipeline infrastructure and a liquefaction plant.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who is on a five-day tour of Vietnam and Singapore, said he's been pressing the Energy Department since at least February to clear Alaskan gas projects for exports.
"I will use this news to raise the issue of Alaska LNG at meetings with senior economic and energy officials in Asia this week," he said in a statement.
Asian economies are hungry for more oil and natural gas as their expansion continues. The Alaskan LNG project is approved for as much as 2.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day for the next 30 years.
Alaska LNG is backed by the state of Alaska and a partnership between BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil and TransCanada. The federal permit is subject to environmental review and final regulatory approval.
As chair of the Senate Energy Committee and an environmental subcommittee, Murkowski has oversight authority over the agencies involved in the final regulatory approval process.
