Exporting Natural Gas Starts With Proper Infrastructure

With the advent of natural gas and oil exports, a new era for American energy is dawning. President Trump believes we are on the brink of becoming net exporters in natural gas and oil, changing America’s position in the international energy arena. Because of this, the U.S. has the opportunity to provide allies around the world with a more reliable supply of energy resources.

These comments come at the beginning of the White House’s “Energy Week. “The President will speak at the Department of Energy and the White House about oil and natural gas, renewable resources, and the risks posed to the reliability of our national electricity grid.

Energy Week will consist of a number of events focused on job creation and U.S. global influence. The week started with a meeting between President Trump and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. After their meeting, the President said that they “will sign” an agreement that the U.S. will sell natural gas to India. This is a great show of America’s strength in energy, and shows just how beneficial the natural gas industry is to our country.

Yet major obstacles still remain in our ability to provide our domestic natural resources to foreign markets around the world. In order to fully utilize what is right below our feet, Congress needs to pass common sense legislation that would allow for the improvement and expansion of our energy infrastructure. Constructing additional pipelines across the country has domestic and foreign benefits. Local economies will see the boosts that come through construction and job creation, while America’s ability to move and export natural resources would be greatly improved.

Establishing our national “dominance” in the international energy market is a lofty—yet achievable—goal that would help boost our economy and secure our national security. To do so, however, we must first develop our domestic infrastructure and expand our nation’s pipelines. The GAIN coalition believes expanding the market for American oil and natural gas is beneficial to all Americans, and we strongly support the construction of pipelines that will improve our ability to bring this important resource to Americans and exporters alike.