Energy Bosses Demand Clear And Consistent U.S. Policies On Natural Gas

A number of leading energy executives have bemoaned the lack of clarity and consistency in U.S. policies on natural gas at a major international event in Houston.

Gastech 2024 – one of the energy industry’s leading fixtures – being held from September 17 to 20 in the Texan city described as the energy capital of the U.S., saw a number of industry bosses criticize the Biden Administration over its stance on natural gas exploration and production as well as permits for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes, Tuesday said: “It would appear we do not have a cohesive, collective decision on how policy should be rolled out and also the sustainability of that policy for sustainable energy development.”

Ryan Lance, CEO of ConocoPhillips, criticized the government’s pause on new US LNG permits in January. The decision was subsequently blocked by a Federal Court in July.

“You gotta stop this crazy LNG pause from going forward. We absolutely need permitting reform, and we need more infrastructure,” he noted.

With attending delegates contemplating the purposefulness of natural gas as a “bridging” or “destination” fuel to a low carbon horizon, as well as a useful energy commodity for powering the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), many were scathing about the government’s lack of recognition of the dynamic.

Mike Wirth, CEO of Chevron, who was among the first of the major energy bosses to speak at the annual fixture, quipped: “AI’s advance will depend not only on the design labs of Silicon Valley, but also on the gas fields of the Permian basin.”

Elsewhere, some noted that the country’s febrile political climate was not helpful either; a situation that was unlikely to improve before November’s U.S. presidential election.

Chris Ashton, CEO of engineering, procurement and construction firm Worley, described the possibility of a fractious run up to U.S. presidential election as troubling after a sequence of international elections that have made 2024 an unusual year for the energy industry.

“All I can say is that we unequivocally believe in the future of natural gas as a viable source of energy to meet needs of a rapidly growing digital economy both within and beyond the U.S. There needs to be a wider recognition of this,” Ashton said on Wednesday.

Industry consternation comes at time when the U.S. has become the world’s largest exporter of LNG, having overtaken the previous market leader by volume Qatar and second-placed Australia.

It also follows a number of delegations to Gastech from importing nations in Asia reaffirming their commitment and desire for greater imports of U.S. LNG. India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri described the U.S. as a reliable “energy trading partner” but stopped short of wading directly into the row.

Defending the U.S. government’s stance, Brad Crabtree, Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon Management at the Department of Energy, said the Biden administration has made billions of dollars available for new energy investments via its Infrastructure Bill.

He added that his department was accelerating project assessments to secure funding distributed for carbon capture and storage storage, hydrogen and other forms of clean technology efforts ahead U.S. presidential elections. “I am thrilled by the scope and pace of what we’re doing,” he added.

Gastech 2024, which concludes on Friday, expects to host over 50,000 attendees and 7,000 conference delegates from 125 countries. As part of its program, the event will touch not just on natural gas markets but deliberate on a host of subjects ranging from industrial AI to the energy trilemma.