Proposed US law could boost gas export to India

The latest version of a Bill in the US legislature for expedited approval on export of natural gas to World Trade Organization members could help India. Over the past year, surplus production of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in the US has given impetus to the prospect of its exports to countries as India, Ukraine and Japan.

The surplus is largely due to rapid advances in the technology and extraction of shale gas and oil over recent years. However the process of exporting LNG is complicated by the US law that does not allow doing so to countries with which it does not have a Free Trade Agreement, unless there are special exceptions. This leaves out India and Ukraine, a country the US would like to see as less dependent on Russian gas.