Research Library

Will the U.S. ban future LNG sales to China? Fellows Gabriel Collins and Steven R. Miles examine a recent move by the Department of Energy to “temporarily pause” LNG exports to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S. — including China.

Information and cyber action have been important but ancillary components of the Ukraine war since its outbreak on February 24, 2022. We offer a set of observations:

With conflict on two fronts, and natural gas squarely in the crosshairs, the U.S. LNG industry will be needed to maintain commitments and support allies and trading partners in both Europe and Asia this winter.

Proactive U.S. efforts to enhance Europe’s gas security and blunt Russia’s ability to use gas for hybrid warfare would directly support its ability to sustain and upgrade its combat credibility in East and Southeast Asia. By incentivizing upstream gas investments globally through the demand call associated with a broader European move to replace Russian gas with LNG, gas geoeconomics would over the medium term also help increase global LNG supply to the ultimate benefit of U.S. allies in Asia, foremost among them Japan and South Korea.

The war in Ukraine could severely disrupt exports of Russian gas to Europe. Energy fellows Steven Miles and Gabriel Collins explain how existing LNG floating storage vessels can provide a concrete, rapidly implementable gas supply solution until longer-term infrastructure investments are in place.

This is the first analysis focused specifically on whether subnational resource curse dynamics seen in other oil-rich locales (1) apply to the Permian Basin and if so, to what extent, and (2) compensatory policy steps.

The authors explain why, over the next decade, gas geoeconomics policies can enhance energy security, solidify market liberalization, and also reduce emissions by maximizing the use of clean-burning natural gas. Central and Eastern Europe offer fertile ground for interested countries to partner with the United States in this policy direction.

Gabriel Collins, the Baker Botts Fellow in Energy & Environmental Regulatory Affairs, analyzes the impact of China’s emerging demographic decline, debt burden and increasingly likely structural economic growth downshift on global oil and gas markets.

In this working paper, the authors suggest that companies must strive for transparent frameworks, political neutrality and a fair allocation of returns when engaging in foreign direct investment. This working paper is part of a series titled “The Role of Foreign Direct Investment in Resource-Rich Regions.”