Leucadia National Corp News

The U.S. Energy Department has finalized a plan to revamp its process for approving liquefied natural gas exports, and as originally proposed the changes eliminate conditional approvals for LNG projects. Beginning Thursday, the department will only issue final rulings on whether exports are in the public interest after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or another authorized agency, has completed an environmental review of the project. The move will likely shift focus from the Energy Department, which has been criticized for moving too slowly, to the more costly FERC process, which assesses the safety and environmental impacts of LNG export facilities.

The U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday it has approved Oregon LNG to export liquefied natural gas, as the Obama administration works through applications to export fuel from the domestic drilling boom to markets in Asia and Europe. Oregon LNG, which is controlled by Leucadia National Corp , has been authorized by the department to export up to 1.25 billion cubic feet per day of the fuel. The Astoria, Oregon-based project still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Chris Reese)

The Obama administration on Thursday announced a major overhaul of its review process for U.S. liquefied natural gas exports, a change that would benefit companies with strong financial backing for their projects. Under the proposal, the Department of Energy would no longer issue conditional approvals of projects. Instead, the department would decide whether an LNG export project is in the national interest only after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or another agency, had issued a final environmental review. The action would shift emphasis from the department's conditional approval, placing the onus on FERC. The department said that by waiting until the environmental review is completed…

The Obama administration must speed up approvals of liquefied natural gas exports to help boost global supplies and help U.S. allies, five Senate Democrats said on Friday. The lawmakers, all from natural gas-producing states, urged the Energy Department to place additional weight on national security matters in its review of LNG export applications. The Democrats said they wanted to show the White House that there is significant Democratic support for speeding up gas exports, even though Republicans typically lead the chorus. "Our allies have emphasized that a strong market signal from the United States that it is a willing future supplier of LNG…