Penn America Energy Holdings (PAE) has met with White House officials to sound out the Trump Administration’s support for a project to develop an LNG export facility on Pennsylvania’s Delaware River, the company’s chief executive, Franc James, told Reuters this week.
PAE has been seeking for years to advance a project to build an LNG plant on the Delaware River, to export 7.2 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually.
Penn LNG would be close to the vast, low-cost Marcellus natural gas resources, and, when compared to U.S. Gulf Coast projects, it offers shorter shipping distances to Europe and other key LNG markets, Penn America Energy says. Moreover, the Delaware River ship channel has been deepened to enable the region’s full participation in global marine commerce.
While such a project could take advantage of the abundant natural gas resources and production close to Pennsylvania, the need for more pipelines and local opposition has stymied progress in the initial stages of the project.
This week’s meeting was to “provide intelligence” to the White House about the project, James told Reuters.
“Developing a project in the Northeast is quite different than the Gulf Coast, Louisiana and Texas, so it requires a great deal of support, not only politically in the state, but also with communities … in terms of pipeline -transmission as well as … along the Delaware River,” the executive said.
Support needs to be found not only on the federal level, which could be readily available with the Trump Administration’s pledge to unleash America’s energy resources and LNG exports. Penn LNG will need to obtain state and local permits, as well as federal permits, to go forward.
The company is still considering which site to pick for a potential LNG terminal, James told Reuters.
Analysts say the project faces challenges in obtaining permits amid opposition from local communities and the state.
Meanwhile, developers of U.S. LNG export projects have started taking final investment decisions on new facilities this year, with several plans expected to be added in 2025 to Woodside’s Louisiana LNG approval, despite rising construction costs due to President Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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