The Energy Department is reviewing 16 applications to build export terminals to ship supplies to countries that don’t have free-trade agreements with the U.S. Among the companies seeking to export gas are Sempra Energy (SRE) of San Diego and Dominion Resources Inc. (D) of Richmond, Virginia. Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG) has won approval for a facility that would begin exporting in 2015.
Incorporating Japan in the trade agreement would unite one country seeking new markets for booming supply with another nation desperate for imports to help it replace nuclear plants.
Japan is increasingly reliant on imported gas for electricity, following the March 2011 tsunami that damaged several nuclear reactors, and it’s relying on supplies from countries such as Malaysia, Russia, Qatar, Australia and Indonesia, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The U.S. is not one of its top suppliers now.