JAX LNG sought federal approval to engage in long-term exports of liquefied natural gas of up to 51.75 billion cubic feet annually through Dec. 31, 2050. (JAX LNG)
The Department of Energy has given the green light for vessels to use liquefied natural gas as a fuel by withdrawing its past Biden-era order that created a regulatory roadblock for a Florida company’s proposed business ventures.
The new federal stance on LNG came Feb. 28 in an announcement under new Secretary of Energy Chris Wright by one of his recent appointees, Tala Goudarzi, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
“Today’s action is a significant step in reducing regulatory burdens and helping this important segment of the LNG market continue to grow,” Goudarzi said.
DOE accomplished its policy shift through an 18-page regulatory move (an “Order on Rehearing and Clarification and Modifying Order”) issued Feb. 25 in response to pushback in earlier DOE filings by JAX LNG, a small coastal LNG company at Dames Point near Jacksonville.
JAX LNG, with both on-road and marine-loading capabilities, serves the trucking, marine, rail, drilling, mining, power generation, aerospace and industrial markets. It has dual truck-loading bays to serve the LNG market and meet expected future demand.
DOE noted it was modifying a December 2024 order issued by DOE to JAX LNG under the Biden administration “that asserted new oversight for the use of LNG to power marine vessels, also known as LNG bunkering.”
JAX LNG sought federal approval to engage in long-term exports of U.S. LNG of up to 51.75 billion cubic feet annually through Dec. 31, 2050. The company produces 360,000 gallons of LNG per day and operates two trains in Jacksonville.
ATA Technology & Maintenance Council is tackling technician shortages and evolving technology at the 2025 TMC Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition. Don’t miss this deep dive into the key issues shaping the future of trucking maintenance. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
“JAX plans to transport the LNG from existing liquefaction facilities in approved International Organization for Standardization containers where the ISO containers will be loaded onto oceangoing vessels for delivery to markets or on bunkering vessels to transfer LNG for marine fuel to cargo ships and cruise ships in foreign ports,” according to a DOE regulatory docket.
The agency’s new modified order withdrew its past jurisdictional claim (under the Natural Gas Act) on ship-to-ship transfers of LNG for marine fuel use at a U.S. port, in U.S. waters or international waters. (Currently, the only bunkering-related activity deemed an export are ship-to-ship transfers of U.S. LNG when the receiving ship is located in the territorial sea of a foreign country, including foreign ports.)
“Energy is essential to everything we do,” Wright said Feb. 6 while naming his key staff, including Goudarzi, “and I look forward to working together to remove barriers to innovation, cut red tape and pursue common-sense solutions for unleashing our energy potential. The American people deserve nothing less.”
JAX LNG is a 50-50 joint venture between Seaside LNG and Pivotal LNG, a subsidiary of BHE GT&S. Pivotal LNG owns and operates LNG facilities in Pennsylvania and Alabama. It provides production, transportation and delivery services.
