-Dow’s chief of feedstocks Jim Fitterling on Thursday wrote an op-ed piece decrying the “short-term insight” of U.S. lawmakers seeking to fast-track LNG exports amid tensions with Russia. Fitterling wrote in Roll Call that members of Congress who cast aside consideration of the domestic impacts of LNG exports “care more about the European consumer than the American consumer.” A House panel earlier this week passed a bill that would expedite permits for LNG exports to U.S. allies.
-Many agree that LNG exports are not a short-term solution to the world's problems, and Hess Corp.’s CEO wants to help pull Europe out of its looming energy crisis by removing the U.S. ban on crude oil exports ASAP. Via Reuters, John Hess said in an address at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Europe and Ukraine could get relief from its energy woes within 90 days if exports from the U.S. are allowed. Europe depends on Russia for 30% of its crude oil supply.
-Meanwhile, domestic crude shipping is getting a boost from the rapidly expanding Port of Corpus Christi. Members of the media on Thursday got an up-close look at NuStar Energy’s newest ship dock, which as of February doubled the company’s loading capacity at the port to 400,000 barrels per day.
-Japan’s government approved a plan to reinstate the country’s nuclear energy program three years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Some observers believe the return of nuclear power in Japan could lower demand for LNG in the Asian market.
