Chesapeake Energy CEO: Biden’s LNG ban to hurt consumers, environment, U.S. allies

(Bloomberg) – The Biden administration’s pause on new licenses to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) will hurt consumers, the environment and U.S. allies, according to the head of one of the country’s top gas producers.

“It works counter to a number of things that the administration says they would like to accomplish,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Nick Dell’Osso said Wednesday in an interview on the sidelines of the 2024 NAPE Summit in Houston. “But politics are a challenge and people have their views.”

LNG proponents hold that the super-chilled commodity is key to the energy transition, especially in helping countries reduce dependence on coal, while critics point to the environmental harm from producing and exporting the fuel.

Dell’Osso said the government’s “unfortunate” move will ultimately get resolved, but LNG projects take years to complete, “so a one-year pause, if it is a full year, is meaningful.” Dell’Osso’s remarks echoed comments from EQT Corp. CEO Toby Rice, who said the moratorium means more coal in the global energy mix.

Meanwhile, a key Bangladeshi government adviser cautioned that the U.S. LNG pause threatens global supplies. Norway’s Equinor ASA sees the policy change delaying the onset of a worldwide gas glut, while French supermajor TotalEnergies SE expects projects outside the U.S. to benefit.

Dell’Osso said he doesn’t foresee delays to Chesapeake’s long-term deals to supply gas to trading houses Gunvor Group and Vitol SA for export as LNG. Chesapeake’s pact to acquire competitor Southwestern Energy Corp., which would create the largest U.S. gas producer, will give the company more access to domestic and overseas markets, he said.