The Department of Energy (DOE) authorized New Fortress Energy's (NFE) Altimira LNG project to export up to 0.4 bcf/d to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States on 31 Aug. Altamira was already authorized to export to FTA countries, and had shipped it's first cargo on 9 Aug to La Paz, Mexico. NFE had requested authorization until 2050, but the DOE granted it for only five years, specifically noting that re-exports from foreign ports have public interest considerations (like jobs, investment and environmental concerns) that are substantially different from US-based exports, which they will "consider" if and when NFE reapplies for the authorization - which it can do in no less than two years.
DOE approval is required for any LNG project sourcing US natural gas, and approval to export to non-FTA countries is considered commercially essential. The granting of non-FTA authorizations had been on hold since Jan 26, when the DOE announced that they were pausing to "update the economic and environmental analyses" used for their public interest determination. (Exports to FTA countries are "must-issue" and were not affected by the pause.) On July 1, a federal district judge in Louisiana issued a stay on the DOE's pause, but there were serious questions about the practical effect - DOE is still required to have a solid basis for a public interest determination, and the judge's order stopped well short of ordering DOE to issue any authorizations.
Though DOE posted a statement on their website at the beginning of the "pause" in non-FTA approvals, there is no such statement about the end of the pause and the Altamira authorization made no reference to the "pause" at all.
