WASHINGTON, June 14, 2017 - Energy Secretary Rick Perry points to the recent arrival of U.S. shipments of liquefied natural gas in northwest Europe as an example of the U.S. using energy as an instrument of foreign policy.
Perry pointed to an address he made in April at an energy forum hosted by Bloomberg in which he noted that energy has been used as a political tool to hold countries hostage, which he called an “act of economic aggression that needs to be confronted.” And he said back then that “one of the most important actions we can take is to use our massive shale gas resources to begin shipping LNG overseas.”
Last week, Perry noted the arrival of LNG supplies from the U.S. in the Netherlands and Poland and other shipments from the U.S. to southern Europe, including Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal and Turkey.
“U.S. LNG has begun arriving in Europe with some frequency,” Perry said, “providing a diverse source of supply and ensuring energy security for Europe.”
He noted that Europe has been looking to the United States as a key potential source for energy diversification to decrease Russia’s leverage as the region’s dominant gas supplier. He also said that a growing number of U.S. LNG shipments are expected to be sold to Europe as more liquefaction projects located along the U.S. Gulf Coast come online and begin production and shipment, and that the U.S. is expected to become the world’s third-largest LNG supplier by 2020.
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