The U.S. Energy Department announced Monday that it has issued a final authorization for a company to export domestically produced compressed natural gas (CNG) overseas.
Emera CNG, LLC will be able to export CNG up to 8 million cubic feet (0.24 million cubic meters) per day of natural gas from its proposed facility at the Port of Palm Beach in the U.S. state of Florida.
The company will be able to export LNG to countries that the U.S. does not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with for a period of 20 years.
The U.S. Department of Energy has to authorize companies before they can export domestically produced natural gas to non-FTA countries.
The department has so far approved eight projects to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the U.S. to non-FTA nations. The earliest of them, Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass project in the state of Louisiana, will begin LNG exports at the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016.
'The development of U.S. natural gas resources is having a transformative impact on the U.S. energy landscape, helping to improve our energy security while spurring economic development and job creation around the country,' the energy department said in a statement.
'This increase in domestic natural gas production is expected to continue, with the Energy Information Administration forecasting a record average production rate of 78.92 billion cubic feet (2.21 billion cubic meters) per day in 2015,' it added.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr