US renews ConocoPhillips permit to export LNG from Alaska terminal

The US Energy Department has renewed ConocoPhillips' permit to export LNG from Alaska to all countries, news reports said this week.

With the latest permit, ConocoPhillips is allowed to export up to 40 billion cubic feet of LNG from Alaska's Kenai terminal over the next two years.

The prior ConocoPhillips permit for the terminal lapsed in March 2013 amid concerns about falling gas production in the Cook Inlet region, Reuters reported.

But last September, Alaska's Department of Natural Resources asked ConocoPhillips to resume LNG exports, thereby supporting local gas production and providing supply security in the region.

"[The] announcement by DOE ... highlights the growth that's occurring in Cook Inlet, where there is now ample gas supply to both meet local needs and help out our friends overseas," said Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the Senate energy committee.

Japan has historically been the main buyer of Alaskan LNG. Unlike other gas-export proposals around the US, Alaskan gas exports are not usually controversial because the state's geographic isolation means that most of its gas was already going to other countries.