New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
US government promotes LNG abroad and at home
5/5/2026
News
In late April US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright travelled to Croatia to encourage construction of gas pipelines in central and eastern Europe to import US LNG, providing support for the Southern Interconnection Pipeline in the Balkans. In addition, there were civil nuclear deals with Croatia, as well as US investment in a data centre in Croatia.
A Department of Energy statement said that the US ‘is on track’ to more than double LNG exports in the next decade.
It quoted Secretary Wright as saying: ‘The future is extremely bright for the nations that join the United States in pursuing common sense energy policies that deliver prosperity and security for their respective people.’
In the near term, official figures find little headroom for increases in LNG output in the current market of constrained global supply thanks to the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
‘We expect US LNG exports will increase, but only by a small portion of the missing volumes,’ wrote authors of an in-brief analysis published by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in late April, referring to the closure of the Strait, which has impeded supply of 10bn ft3/d, 20% of global supply.
US LNG export was estimated at 17.9bn ft3/d in March. The EIA predicts those figures will rise to about 19bn ft3/d by the end of the year, rising above 20bn ft3/d towards the end of 2027.
In terms of growth of additional export capacity, the EIA predicts 2.4bn ft3/d of additional export capacity by the end of the year, due to expansions at Golden Pass trains 1 and 2, and Corpus Christi Stage 3 (trains 5–7).
QatarEnergy announced the first LNG export cargo from the 18mn t/y capacity Golden Pass, a partnership between QatarEnergy (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%), in April. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, and President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: ‘This is a significant industry milestone that marks a new chapter in QatarEnergy’s global efforts to meet rising LNG demand and ensure reliable supplies to international markets.’
However, investment capital for new LNG capacity might come from an unexpected source: renewables developers. The US administration has brokered two more deals to incentivise offshore wind developers to voluntarily revoke their offshore wind leases – and not seek future ones – in favour of fossil fuel investments, following the first of a kind with TotalEnergies announced earlier this year. The deals relate to Golden State Wind, a Californian floating offshore wind project, and the 2,400 MW capacity fixed-bottom Bluepoint Wind project offshore New York and New Jersey.
The US Department of the Interior said: ‘These historic agreements provide dollar-for-dollar reimbursement for offshore wind leases that have been impractical to develop without relying on taxpayer subsidies.’
The statement also quoted Associate Attorney General Stanley E Woodward, Jr as saying: ‘The Department of Justice is committed to working with parties to reach agreements that are in the best interests of the Nation and the American people – protracted litigation benefits neither, and I am proud to have helped facilitate today’s historic deals that advance the President’s Energy Dominance Agenda.’
A number of executive orders and injunctions put forward by the US administration have been overturned in the courts in recent months.
Bluepoint Wind is 50% owned by Global Infrastructure Partners, and 50% owned by Ocean Winds North America. According to the Department of the Interior, Global Infrastructure Partners has committed to invest up to $765mn, the original bid amount for the Bluepoint Wind offshore project (Lease No OCS-A 0537), into a US-based LNG facility. Following this accelerated investment, the Department of the Interior will cancel the lease and reimburse the company’s bid payment in the amount invested in the LNG project.
Golden State Wind is 50% owned by Ocean Winds North America, and 50% by Reventus Power. Under the terms of the agreement, Golden State Wind will be eligible to recover approximately $120mn in lease fees after an investment has been made of an equal amount in the development of US oil and gas assets, energy infrastructure and/or LNG projects along the Gulf Coast. Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, a 50% owner of Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind, said: ‘Our priority remains disciplined capital allocation and delivering reliable energy solutions that create long-term value for ratepayers, partners and shareholders.’
