The United States said Friday it will allow exports of domestically produced liquefied natural gas to Japan and other countries to which it is not bound by free-trade agreements, authorizing a plan to deliver shale and other gases from Texas.
Japan has been asking the United States to lift a ban on LNG exports to meet its energy needs after most of its nuclear reactors were suspended because of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster as well as rising prices of energy imports.
The U.S. Energy Department authorized two companies under Texas-based Freeport LNG Development L.P. to export LNG to countries that are not U.S. free-trade partners, affecting a project involving the Freeport group and major utilities Chubu Electric Power Co. and Osaka Gas Co.