Energy Makes The World Go Round

For John, BLUF:  We can't always whistle up more energy when we need it.  We have to plan for the future.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Here is a quote from a short article in The Maritime Executive, "Chevron Eyes Tight LNG Market".  The United States is an exporter of LNG, or Liquid Natural Gas.  Here is the link to the updated Reuters version of the article.

"The cycle time for LNG (liquefied natural gas) plants between front-end engineering design (FEED) work and first gas shipments could run up to eight years, Kirkland said in a lunchtime address to investors at the BarclaysCEO Energy-Power conference in New York. Plus, entering that FEED stage represented a $1 billion commitment, he added [George Kirkland, Chevron Corp's vice chairman]."

Eight years.  I am sure that with more money the time could be made sorter, but I bet not much.  And a billion dollars.  Not cheap.  And, it is about making long term decisions.  Back to Reuters, here is a story from a couple of days ago:

Japan's Toshiba Corp has signed a liquefied natural gas tolling agreement with the proposed Freeport LNG export plant in Texas, acting for Japanese utilities as more global companies seek to import some of America's growing fuel supplies.

Under the 20-year agreement, Toshiba will secure the right to liquefy 2.2 million tonnes of LNG each year from the Freeport plant's third production unit, known as a train, from late 2018, Freeport said in a statement.

While we are working on exporting LNG, we, as a nation, are working to curtain the use of coal domestically.  Is this a good energy move?

As someone commented, you should shoot the wolf closest to the sled, but then what?  What do you do next and does it help reduce the population of wolves attacking the sled?  What is your strategy, as opposed to your tactical reactions?

Regards  —  Cliff