Trump’s 14 New LNG Export Facilities Will Cause U.S. Energy Bills to Rise, Emissions to Skyrocket

January 17, 2025

Trump's 14 New LNG Export Facilities Will Cause U.S. Energy Bills to Rise, Emissions to Skyrocket

New report finds Big Oil, Saudis, and Chinese companies will be main beneficiaries of Trump's methane export boom

WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump may be on the verge of approving exports of liquified methane from 14 planned export facilities, which have been striking deals to sell their output to gas buyers worldwide.

These approvals would feed an explosion of fossil fuel exports, delivering liquified methane (also known as natural gas or LNG) predominantly to Asian markets, including China, and drive up prices for U.S. energy consumers, according to a new study released today.

Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen examined announced agreements between exporters and LNG buyers to sell LNG from roughly two dozen terminal and terminal expansions in the U.S. and Mexico. The analysis found that 14 terminals have signed at least one deal with a disclosed buyer. All told, 76 million metric tonnes per year of LNG is currently under agreement to be sold from these facilities.

The analysisalso found that Of those LNG exports, more than 51% will go to Big Oil companies and oil and gas trading firms. Nearly a third of LNG volumes analyzed in the report is to be sent to customers in the Asia-Pacific region, including numerous Chinese companies. Only about 19% of the volume is destined for Europe, where LNG imports surged after the war in Ukraine but have since declined, indicating that industry lobbyists have exaggerated the impact on Europe.

To date, the agreements reached to sell gas from these 14 terminals would generate more than 510 million metric tons of climate pollution-equivalent to the annual emissions of 135 new coal plants.

"This research reveals the disturbing reality of an LNG export boom under a second Trump term," said Raena Garcia, senior energy campaigner at Friends of the Earth, "This reality will cement higher energy prices for Americans and push the world into even more devastating climate disasters. The incoming administration is poised to haphazardly greenlight LNG exports that are clearly intended to put profit over people."

The U.S. Department of Energy is tasked to enforce the congressional mandate only to authorize gas exports that are consistent with the public interest. This generations-old legal requirement was designed to protect American utility consumers from price-gouging and other harms. The question is whether Trump's Energy Secretary nominee, Chris Wright, a fracking industry executive, will take that responsibility seriously.

"Trump promised that he would cut Americans' energy bills, but consumers are at risk of paying more due to Trump's close allegiance with dirty energy executives who want to ship more fuel overseas and helped pay for Trump's campaign," said Alan Zibel, research director at Public Citizen. "Exporting U.S.-supplied methane gas to Chinese industrial companies will make Americans pay higher energy bills again, and devastate the planet in the process."

After the election, Trump pledged to sign"Day One" orders to push a pro-fossil fuel agenda and declare a "national energy emergency," potentially to spur more production.

The report comes days before Trump is set to return to office. President Trump's reelection bid received over $14 million from Big Oil. At an April dinner Mar-a-Lago, Trump asked high-level executives from companies including Chevron, Exxon, and Occidental, to raise $1 billion to help his reelection, a meeting that included LNG exporters Venture Global LNG Inc. and Cheniere Energy Inc.

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