America’s largest producer of natural gas warns Biden’s LNG export pause sends ‘chilling effect’ to industry

Energy leaders concerned over the Biden Energy Department’s pause on liquefied natural gas export approvals warn the policy could have devastating long-term impacts on their industry as well as energy security for foreign allies. 

“These types of executive orders send a chilling effect, through the industries and the investors,” Toby Rice, president and CEO at EQT Corporation, told FOX Business’ Lydia Hu. 

“You need to have a very secure landscape that’s not going to be thrown curveballs so that investors can have safety and peace of mind,” he continued.

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Hu, reporting live from a gas production site in Amity, Pennsylvania, said Rice called out the Biden policy as a “step in the wrong direction,” as natural gas is a cleaner alternative than coal power used across the globe.

Rice’s company, the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S., had ambitious plans to sell LNG to international buyers in the future, but the new pause disrupts those plans.

“Before this pause, it was expected that EQT would be able to directly reach the international market for LNG within three to four years,” Hu told Maria Bartiromo. “But with this pause in place on new exports, there’s now uncertainty.”

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Hu also mentioned America’s role as the world’s top exporter of LNG, pointing to numbers that showed the amount provided to Europe “more than doubled” between 2021 and 2023 – a time frame in which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rattled the energy industry in the region.

Rice’s concerns counter cheers from climate activists, but mimic concerns from others – including The International Gas Union – who called the policy “worrying” while claiming it will “harm global energy security and emission reduction.”

Uniper, Germany’s largest gas trader, similarly warned the negative consequences could include “volume shortages” that raise prices throughout the continent.

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Additionally, 150 House Republicans, including Reps. Elise Stefanik, Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer and House Speaker Mike Johnson, sounded the alarm over the policy, writing to President Biden to urge him to reverse it on the grounds that it will threaten the energy security of both the U.S. and its allies. 

The GOP group urged Biden to “expeditiously approve all pending applications to increase the global supply of natural gas.”

U.S. State Department employee Geoffrey Pyatt clarified Monday that the ban doesn’t extend to “currently permitted LNG exports,” according to Reuters, but Rice warned delays in approving new exports leave U.S. allies vulnerable.

FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Fox News Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.