The US energy revolution is gaining pace as the Obama administration approved wider exports of liquefied natural gas and international companies committed billions to new infrastructure projects. Advances in fracking have unlocked new US oil and gas supplies and increased the potential for the US to export energy. The Department of Energy approved the Freeport LNG project in Texas to export to non-trade agreement countries. Separately, Japanese and European companies pledged $6-7 billion to the proposed $10 billion Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana. The developments underscore how the US shale boom is positioning the country to be a major global energy supplier.

1. Source : http://www.cnbc.com/id/100748284
Published: Saturday, 18 May 2013 | 4:55 AM ET
By: Ed Crooks in New York, Jonathan Soble in Tokyo and Guy
Chazan in London
US Energy Revolution
Gathers Pace

2. The growing role of the U.S. in world
energy markets was underlined on
Friday as the Obama administration
approved wider exports of liquefied
natural gas and international
companies committed billions of
dollars for new infrastructure.
The developments were both
consequences of the shale revolution
in the U.S., in which improvements in
the techniques of horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracturing, or
"fracking," have unlocked new
supplies of oil and gas, and raised the
prospect that the US will be an
increasingly important supplier of
energy to the rest of the world.

3. The Department of Energy on Friday authorized the Freeport LNG project
in Texas to export to countries that do not have a trade agreement with
the US, including Japan and the members of the EU. It was the first such
approval to be granted for two years and only the second ever.
President Barack Obama had been expected to approve worldwide sales
from the Freeport project, as the administration sees rising energy exports
as providing economic benefits and strengthening the global influence of
the U.S.
However, a vocal lobby of companies in industries such as chemicals and
steel has urged restrictions on gas exports to ensure U.S. manufacturers
continue to derive a competitive advantage from cheap energy.
Freeport has signed deals to sell its gas to Osaka Gas and Chubu
Electric of Japan, and BP of the U.K. The export project is owned by a
consortium including Osaka Gas and Michael Smith, Freeport's founder
and chief executive.
Separately, Japanese and European companies said they would invest
billions of dollars in another proposed gas export project, the $10 billion
Cameron LNG plant in Louisiana.

4. Big Stake
Mitsui, Mitsubishi and Nippon Yusen of Japan, and GDF Suez of
France, which had already agreed to buy LNG from Cameron, will
provide construction financing in return for equity stakes totaling 49.8
percent.
Mark Snell, president of Sempra Energy, the project developer, said the
deal "promotes a favorable balance of trade for the national economy,
and supports national and international energy security by assuring
reliable long-term gas supplies to U.S. allies and trading partners."
He estimated the contribution of the Japanese and French groups at
between $6 billion and $7 billion of the facility's $9 billion-$10 billion
construction cost.
Shale gas production has soared in the US in recent years, creating a
supply glut that has driven prices down to about $4 per million British
thermal units from a peak above $13 in 2008.
Cargoes of LNG, super cooled to minus 160 degrees so it can be
transported on tankers, are selling in Asia for the equivalent of about
$15 per mBTU, creating an attractive opportunity for exports from the
U.S.

5. Twenty-six proposed US LNG plants have applied to the Department of
Energy for export permits, but before Friday, only one – Cheniere Energy's
Sabine Pass development in Louisiana – had been granted permission to sell to
countries that do not have a trade agreement with the U.S.
The U.S. energy department said it would work through the remaining
applications in order. The Cameron project is towards the top of the list and
analysts believe it is likely to win approval for global exports this year.

6. Twenty-six proposed US LNG plants have applied to the Department of
Energy for export permits, but before Friday, only one – Cheniere Energy's
Sabine Pass development in Louisiana – had been granted permission to sell to
countries that do not have a trade agreement with the U.S.
The U.S. energy department said it would work through the remaining
applications in order. The Cameron project is towards the top of the list and
analysts believe it is likely to win approval for global exports this year.