It Just Keeps Getting Better And Better; Another Trump Success Story; Making America Great Again -- February 4, 2017

This is almost comical, if it were not so serious and wonderful, how projects that took years to review, are now being approved days after Trump takes office.

It sort of reminds me of the Iranian hostage situation. But instead of US diplomats being held hostage by a foreign nation, domestic big oil and natural gas projects were being held hostage by an angry president and a befuddled bureaucracy.

In addition to being angry, the former president was predictably unpredictable (unlike our current unpredictably unpredictable president): even if a project was approved, and even supported by his SecState, he would step in at the last minute, like a deus ex machina in a Greek tragedy and kill the project.

So, here we have an excellent example: a review that took almost two years which forced multiple delays, is approved within the first two weeks of the Trump presidency.

From Bloomberg, the data points:

• Williams
• $3 billion, 200 miles ($15 million / mile)
• Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline expansion project in the Northeast; along the Eastern Seaboard
• will serve seven (7) million homes
• 670 days for clearance; under Obama, the time to approve such projects jumped from 359 days to 429 days (let's see that number four years from now)
• will begin construction in mid-2017
• in time for the 2017 - 2018 winter heating season

Also, this:

Williams is among the U.S. pipeline developers proposing massive expansions of America’s gas pipeline system to accommodate supplies flowing out of the Marcellus and Utica shale basins in the eastern U.S. Production there has outpaced the capacity to deliver the fuel to markets.

If the review of Atlantic Sunrise had dragged on after Bay’s departure, Williams would have faced months of delays, according to David Wochner, a partner at the Washington-based law firm K&L Gates. It could take as long as 60 days for President Donald Trump’s administration to fill the vacancy on the energy commission and restore a quorum, he said.

And, as usual, much more at the link, including:

Cabot and Seneca Resources Corp. are among the largest gas producers with contracts for space on Atlantic Sunrise.

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Japan's LNG Market Beckons US Exporters

WSJ, data points:

• US LNG has been shipped to Japan for decades, but milestone --
• January, 2016: first LNG from lower 48 states in the US; first LNG shipment derived from American shale gas
• Japan is world's biggest buyer of LNG; 85 million tons/year on giant tankers
• in response to Fukushima disaster in 2011; pushed most reactors offline; accounted for 44% of Japans electricity in year ended March, 2016
• 2016: Japan; $30 billion importing LNG
• US has $60 billion trade deficit with Japan in 2016
• US competing with Australia for Japan's market
• story mentions Rick Perry; LNG from Texas export terminals 
• article does not mention expanded Panama Canal

Do you remember this New York Times article on the likely failure of the Panama Canal expansion?