US DOE widens approval for LNG exports from Cove Point

The Obama administration on Wednesday authorized additional natural gas exports from a fourth US facility.

Dominion Resources Inc. subsidiary Dominion Cove Point LNG LP received conditional permission from the US Department of Energy to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the US. The Cove Point LNG Terminal is on Chesapeake Bay, in Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland.

This authorization follows prior approval from the DOE, on October 7, 2011, to enter into contracts to export liquefied natural gas to countries that do have free trade agreements with the United States.

Subject to environmental review and final regulatory approval, the Cove Point terminal is conditionally authorized to export up to 0.77 Bcf/d for 20 years.