The Art of the StealA project of the Save America Movement
Donate

★ Government Action

Trump restarts stalled natural gas export approvals paused by Biden

Climate Policy RollbackDeregulationFossil Fuel Deregulation

Filed January 2025

★ The Brief

What happened

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14154, directing the Energy Department to resume reviews of pending liquefied natural gas (LNG) export authorizations covering nearly 100 million metric tons of new annual capacity across five Louisiana and Texas terminals.

Who enabled it

Who benefits

Deal or steal?

Two of the five LNG terminal developers unblocked by the order had given to Trump-2024 vehicles: Venture Global donated $1M to the inaugural, and Energy Transfer's executive chairman Kelcy Warren contributed $5M to MAGA Inc. and $815K to Trump 47.

On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14154, 'Unleashing American Energy.' Section 8(a) of the order directs the Secretary of Energy to restart federal reviews of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project applications 'as expeditiously as possible,' reversing the January 2024 pause that the Biden administration had put in place to study the environmental and economic effects of the LNG export boom. At the time of the pause, plants representing nearly 100 million metric tons per annum of additional LNG export capacity expected by 2031 had been blocked, including Commonwealth LNG in Louisiana, Venture Global's CP2, Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass expansion, Energy Transfer's Lake Charles terminal, and Sempra's Port Arthur LNG Phase 2. The U.S. was already the world's largest LNG exporter when the pause was lifted, with shipments having set a record in 2023.

Actors

Who pushed it · 2

Who initiated, paid, or pushed the action.

  • Chris Wright

    Designated implementing officer for Section 8(a); confirmed as Energy Secretary shortly after the EO and responsible for restarting the export-permit review queue at the Department of Energy.

  • Donald Trump
    Donald Trump

    Signed Executive Order 14154 on January 20, 2025, including Section 8(a) directing the Energy Secretary to restart paused LNG export application reviews.

Beneficiaries

Who gained · 5

Who stood to gain.

  • Cheniere Energy

    Developer of the Sabine Pass LNG expansion in Louisiana, whose pending federal export authorization for additional capacity was unfrozen by Section 8(a).

  • Commonwealth LNG

    Developer of the 9.5 MTPA Commonwealth LNG export terminal in Louisiana, whose pending non-FTA export authorization had been blocked the longest of any project under the Biden pause. Approved by DOE first after the EO.

  • Energy Transfer

    Developer of the Lake Charles LNG export terminal in Louisiana, whose pending federal export authorization was unfrozen by Section 8(a).

  • Sempra

    Developer of the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 export project in Texas, whose pending federal export authorization was unfrozen by Section 8(a).

  • Venture Global LNG

    Developer of the CP2 export terminal in Louisiana, one of the high-capacity projects whose pending export authorization was unfrozen by Section 8(a).

    Venture Global LNG has paid into Trump’s orbit:

Sector-wide beneficiaries

  • Liquefied Natural Gas

    Liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal developers are the named beneficiary of Section 8(a). At pause-lift, nearly 100 million metric tons per annum of additional planned export capacity was unblocked, with downstream beneficiaries including the developers of Commonwealth LNG, Venture Global's CP2, Cheniere's Sabine Pass expansion, Energy Transfer's Lake Charles, and Sempra's Port Arthur LNG Phase 2.

    Sector-aligned organizations that have paid into Trump’s orbit:

Sources

Further reading