WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- American Petroleum Institute economist Kyle Isakower said the export of liquefied natural gas is a promising part of the U.S. shale industry.
"The export of [LNG] represents one of the most promising economic opportunities of the shale revolution," he said in a statement Thursday.
This week, ICF International, a policy consulting company, submitted a 71-page report on LNG exports to the API, an energy industry trade group, that says states producing natural gas, like Texas and Pennsylvania, could have up to $31 billion added to their coffers by 2035 through LNG exports.
It says states that don't produce natural gas but have a large manufacturing base could have perhaps $5 billion added to their income.
The U.S. Energy Department found last year that exporting LNG would be beneficial to the U.S. economy.
Critics of the export of LNG say it will lead to more hydraulic fracturing -- a controversial drilling practice they view as an environmental threat -- of shale natural gas reserves and to higher domestic natural gas prices.
