Gulfstream LNG Protest
By Tyson Slocum
Today Public Citizen protests the application of Gulfstream LNG to export natural gas. Gulfstream LNG, presently owned by a single individual, Vivek Chandra, seeks authorization to export 237.5 Bcf/year of LNG to non-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries from its proposed export terminal on the west bank of the Mississippi River in between the communities of West Pointe à la Hache and Diamond in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
The U.S. Department of Energy is tasked by Congress to only permit exports of natural gas to non-FTA countries which are “not inconsistent with the public interest.”[1] The U.S. Supreme Court noted that the “primary aim” of this 85-year-old law is “to protect consumers against exploitation at the hands of natural gas companies”.[2]
The application must be denied because it is not consistent with the public interest. The applicant relies on an obsolete and discredited 2018 macroeconomic study that fails to accurately measure the disruptive impact record natural gas exports are having on U.S. energy markets that are negatively impacting American consumers. Furthermore, the application’s assertions that authorizing its requested level of exports will bring domestic and international benefits are unsupported.
Read our full protest here: GulfstreamLNGProtest
[1] 15 USC § 717b(a).
[2] FPC v. Hope Nat. Gas Co., 320 U.S. 591 (1944).