Sen. Lisa Murkowski Says America Needs To Maintain Its Position of Power In Oil & Gas And LNG Production

Author: Anthony Moore |

Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski took part in a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in order to look at the global climate and climate change progress. During the hearing, Sen. Murkowski questioned authorities on the future of America’s oil and gas and liquefied natural gas markets.

 

The hearing consisted of a panel of five, which included Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency; Dr. Angel Hsu, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Dr. Richard Newell, President and CEO of Resources for the Future; Dr. Scott Tinker, Director, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas-Austin; Mr. Mark Mills, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute.

 

Murkowski said that minerals need to recognized, and prioritized as important in the transition to clean energy, expressing concern over recent executive actions from the Biden Administration that have jeopardized the future of U.S. fossil fuel production, “These actions potentially jeopardize the very future of development production of U.S. fossil fuel resources. We know U.S. LNG markets, our exports are particularly important for markets in Asia. The question to you both is, if future U.S. oil and gas exports are no longer available within the broader global market, this reduction in supply is going to be met elsewhere. So to you, Dr. Birol, what countries benefit the most from U.S. oil and gas exports, and where will future supplies come from if the U.S. cuts its exports? Following that, Mr. Mills, if you can speak to what a reduction in U.S. oil and gas production really means for the development of the global markets.

 

Dr. Birol said that if the U.S. production of oil and gas is to decline, and that there’s enough demand around the world, the gap will be met by lower cost Middle East countries. In his response, Dr. Birol said that China is the top purchaser of U.S. LNG exports, explaining that if U.S. LNG were to replace coal in Asia, it could lead to major declines in CO2 emissions as well as air pollution.

 

Mills said that the demand for oil is expected to return to the same level as prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, acknowledging that Russia is a nation that could fill the gaps in production. He said that if oil and gas production is pushed to other parts of the world, he said it will be less efficient, less clean and potentially more expensive.

 

Sen. Murkowski ended by saying, “I think their responses and the reality of the role that the United States has played in a very dramatic way very quickly in terms of being that player in production in what we have been able to do with our allies is nothing short of extraordinary and I would certainly hate to see us go backwards with that very significant and dominant role.”

 

See the entire video below:

Author: Anthony Moore

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