Nick Snow
Christopher Guith, senior vice-president for policy at the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, said the need was obvious 5-6 years ago when US gas production began to grow so dramatically. “Ultimately, this has been as much about politics as economics,” he said. “It also provided us an important prelude to discussing crude exports.”
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He said he does not expect LNG exports to seriously raise US gas prices, a concern some chemical and other manufacturers have expressed. “We can produce a ton of ethylene for $300,” Guith said. “In Asia, it costs $900. Add to that our much lower electric prices, and we still have a strong magnet for attracting more manufacturers.”
The current US crude and LNG export stance is also inconsistent with the country’s overall position favoring free trade and open markets, panelists noted. Guith said he sees parallels between how this country handles gas exports and what China did with rare earths that made the US take it before the World Trade Organization. “It lessens our authority to be the arbiter of free trade,” he observed.
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