ConocoPhillips CEO calls on White House to utilize North America’s “substantial” natural gas resources at Gastech 2024
(WO) – On the first day of Gastech 2024, held in Houston, Texas, from Sept. 17-20, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryance Lance made an impassioned plea for permitting reform, infrastructure investments, and an end to what he called a “crazy LNG pause.”
Lance is referring to a move made by the Biden administration at the beginning of the year, which paused permits to allow the Department of Energy to scrutinize LNG's potential environmental impacts and halted export approvals.
While a federal judge eventually blocked the move in July, the Biden administration is continuing to explore options for what many in the oil and gas industry consider an extreme climate agenda.
Lance is among several CEOs looking to utilize North America’s gas reserves, of which the head of ConocoPhillips says is “substantial.” Lance went as far as to predict “a century” of available resources.
However, the current administration’s apparent war on the fuel, which the industry advocates will be a necessary resource in the energy transition, threatens the U.S’ position in the global market, as well as domestic and international energy security.
“When it comes to advancing economic prosperity, energy security, and environmental protection, an LNG permitting pause fails on all three,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said separately at Gastech 2024.
“The administration should stop the attacks on natural gas and embrace the benefits it’s already delivering around the world.”
