22
play) in the United States economy. Delfin maintains that “[t]he advent of LNG exports worth
billions of dollars will add tens of thousands of additional jobs to the U.S. economy.”
70
Delfin
adds that LNG exports will help realign the U.S. balance of trade by allowing the United States
to export some of its abundant natural gas.
Beyond
these economic factors, Delfin LNG asserts that allowing LNG exports will have
positive international consequences, as DOE/FE has recognized in past LNG export orders.
Delfin argues that LNG exports from the United States have the potential to fundamentally alter
the world’s energy and economic map, and to benefit this country’s allies around the globe,
especially in Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. Citing a report by the James A. Baker III Institute
for Public Policy at Rice University, Delfin emphasizes these and other international and
geopolitical benefits associated with increased domestic
natural gas production which, in turn,
Delfin states will be fostered by its LNG exports.
71
Finally, citing EPA estimates on air emissions, Delfin argues that its proposed exports
will have significant environmental benefits because natural gas is a cleaner-burning fuel than
other fossil fuels. Delfin points out that LNG exports from the United States may substitute for
coal or fuel oil usage overseas, thereby sharing the environmental benefits of natural gas with
other nations.
72
VI.
CURRENT PROCEEDING BEFORE DOE/FE
A.
Overview
In response to the Notice of Application published in the
Federal Register on March 26,
70
Delfin App. at 26.
71
See id. at 27 (citing “Shale Gas and U.S. National Security,” Medlock, Myers, Jaffe, & Hartley, published by the
James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy (July 19, 2011)).
72
See id. at 29.
23
2014, DOE/FE received four timely-filed motions to intervene in this proceeding.
73
Of those,
API moved to intervene in support of the Application.
74
V4EI
75
, Sierra Club
76
, and APGA
77
moved to intervene and protest in opposition to the Application.
Delfin filed a consolidated
response to the comments and protests submitted by Sierra Club, APGA, and V4EI.
78
Sierra
Club subsequently filed a renewed motion to reply and reply in response to Delfin’s Response.
79
B.
API’s Motion to Intervene and Comments
On May 27, 2014, API filed a motion to intervene in this proceeding and comments
supporting the Application. API states that it is a national trade association representing more
than 600 member companies involved in all aspects of the oil and
gas industry in the United
States. API states that its members include owners and operators of LNG import and export
facilities in the United States and around the world, as well as owners and operators of LNG
vessels, global LNG traders, and manufacturers of essential technology and equipment used all
along the LNG value chain. API states that its members—many of whom operate in the Gulf
73
Additionally, on January 3, 2014 (prior to
publication of the Federal Register notice), the Texas Alliance of
Energy Producers (Alliance) filed a “Petition and Motion” and supporting amicus brief asking DOE to issue an order
establishing a “separate and simultaneous process” for the review of applications for LNG exports to non-FTA
countries from offshore deepwater natural gas ports subject to the Deepwater Port Act. However, we find that the
issues raised in the Alliance’s amicus brief were mooted by DOE’s issuance of its Procedures for Liquefied Natural
Gas Export Decisions (79 Fed. Reg. 48,132 (Aug. 15, 2014)), as well as by the issuance of this Order. Additionally,
the Alliance’s petition and motion were denied by operation of law when DOE/FE did not act on the filing within 30
days. 10 C.F.R. § 590.302(c).
74
American Petroleum Inst., Motion to Intervene and Comments in Support Approval of Export Application, FE
Docket No. 13-147-LNG (May 27, 2014) [hereinafter API Mot.].
75
V4EI, LLC, Motion in Opposition, FE Docket No. 13-147-LNG (May 27, 2014) [hereinafter V4EI Mot.].
76
Sierra Club, Motion to Intervene, Protest, and Comments, FE Docket No. 13-147-LNG (May 27, 2014)
[hereinafter Sierra Club Mot.].
77
American Public Gas Ass’n, Motion for Leave to Intervene and Protest, FE Docket No. 13-147-LNG (May 27,
2014) [hereinafter APGA Mot.].
78
Delfin LNG, LLC, Response to Motions to
Intervene and Protests, FE Docket No. 13-147-LNG (June 11, 2014)
[hereinafter Response].
79
Sierra Club, Renewed Motion to Reply and Reply, FE Docket No. 13-147-LNG (June 27, 2014) [hereinafter
Sierra Club Reply].
24
Coast region—have a direct and immediate interest in this proceeding that cannot be adequately
protected by any other party.
API expresses its support of Delfin’s Application and urges DOE/FE to grant the
requested authorization. In particular, API contends that DOE’s 2012 LNG Export Study
remains sound, and that, “across all scenarios, the United States stands to
gain net economic
benefits from allowing LNG exports.”
80
API points out that DOE, in a later non-FTA export
authorization, compared three years of subsequent AEO reference cases, and “found that those
data validated (indeed, supported more strongly) the LNG Export Study’s original
conclusions.”
81
Additionally, API maintains that the EIA’s
Annual Energy Outlook 2014 (AEO 2014),
released in May 2014, supports DOE’s continued approval of LNG exports. API asserts that a
comparison of the AEO 2014 data to the AEO 2011 data used in the 2012 LNG Export Study
confirms that LNG exports will
benefit the United States, and demonstrates that the projected
impact of LNG exports on U.S. natural gas prices is lower than originally believed.
82
Next, API describes a study that it commissioned by ICF International and attached to its
motion. The study, published in November 2013, is entitled,
U.S. LNG Exports: State-Level
Impacts on Energy Markets and the Economy.
83
According to API,
the ICF State Study
confirms the conclusions of both AEO 2014 and the 2012 LNG Export Study—specifically, that
the net effect of U.S. GDP and employment generated by LNG exports is projected to be
80
API Mot. at 3.
81
Id. at 3-4 (internal citations omitted).
82
See id. at 4.
83
See API Mot. at 6 (citing ICF Int’l,
U.S. LNG Exports: State-Level Impacts on Energy Markets and the Economy
(Nov. 2013) [hereinafter ICF State Study]).