The Department of Energy’s (DOE) year-long examination of the LNG sector is nearly complete, and a summary report should be released before the end of the year, a DOE spokesman told a U.S. House Committee on Dec. 4.

The report will bring a conclusion, one way or the other, to the Biden administration’s pause on issuing permits for new LNG facilities. President-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to end the policy upon taking office.

The current administration initiated the no-permit policy in January, saying the environmental and economic effects of LNG needed to be studied before any new projects could be permitted.

Environmental groups hailed the move, saying that LNG manufacturing releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the environment. The energy industry attacked the decision, with leaders saying the policy stifled the development of a globally demanded energy supply at a time when the U.S. has record amounts of natural gas production.

The pause affects DOE approvals for permits to allow the sale of LNG to countries that lack a free-trade agreement with the U.S. The policy affects all new LNG plants, as large amounts of LNG are sold internationally to nations that do not have such agreements.

The Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs, chaired by Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), held the Dec. 4 hearing.

“The forthcoming update of our economic and environmental analysis is both robust and comprehensive, and we expect to release the final study by mid-December for a 60-day public comment period,” Brad Crabtree, an assistant secretary at the DOE, told committee members.

During his testimony, Crabtree did not speak to the report’s conclusions, saying he would wait for the document’s release. The assistant secretary discussed the reason for compiling the report, after saying that the DOE policy has not damaged the U.S. LNG sector’s export ability. Enough new plants have already received permits that the U.S. expects to double its LNG export capacity by 2030.

“Our export posture is strong and will grow dramatically during the remainder of this decade regardless of future export approvals,” he said. “With that context in mind, DOE needs to fully understand how additional authorized exports can impact our economy, community, energy prices for domestic consumers and manufacturers, international partners and the environment.”

The Republican members of the committee criticized the DOE position, saying the pause was unnecessary and put a chill on further development.

“But you can do both,” Fallon said. “You can be doing a study and also having an American company export a vital resource, because they are either going to get it from New Mexico or Texas or some other state in our union, or they are going to get it from Moscow. I would far rather have them get it from us.”

Democrats on the committee said the hearing was unnecessary and the opposition party was playing politics.

“This is a re-hash of a topic we’ve already covered in this subcommittee,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.).

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