U.S. Energy Department Official to Testify at Senate Hearing Looking into Biden’s LNG Pause

A top U.S. Energy Department official will testify at Feb. 8 Senate Energy Committee hearing looking into President Joe Biden’s pause on new approvals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, the Energy Department said on Thursday.

Biden paused the approvals last week so his administration can look into the environmental and economic impacts of the exports.

The moratorium, which will likely delay the approvals until after the Nov. 5 election, has been slammed by Republicans and lawmakers from energy-producing states as harming energy security for U.S. allies.

Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk will testify at the hearing, the agency said. A Senate committee aide said the full witness list will be out on Friday or Monday.

Senator Joe Manchin, chair of the committee and a Democrat from natural gas-producing West Virginia, has promised to investigate the pause on approvals of exports of the fuel to big markets in Europe and Asia.

The House Energy, Climate and Grid Security Subcommittee, chaired by Republican Jeff Duncan, will hold a hearing on Feb. 6 on the LNG pause, according to its website.

A spokesperson for the European Commission, noting pause’s exemption for national security emergencies, told Reuters on Friday, it will not have any short- to medium-term impacts on the EU’s security of gas supply.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Diane Craft)