The administration of US President Donald Trump should sweep aside barriers to energy exports from the west and east coasts of the US, two Poten & Partners executives have said.
Chairman Michael Tusiani and senior advisor Gordon Shearer write in a Houston Chronicle op-ed that the calls to expand exports of energy commodities like LNG raises concerns about the concentration of energy and petrochemical projects on the US Gulf Coast.
They complain of congestion and disruptions at ports in the region, where a lack of dredging is a common problem and the Houston Ship Channel is closed for 30 days per year due to fog.
Yet they write that industry has given up on developing projects in other regions of the country.
"It will take a combination of providing additional funding to protect and improve the Gulf coastline and ports, and the federal government's willingness to override the endless delays and obstruction at the state and local levels on the Northeast and West coasts," they wrote.
But not everyone on the Gulf Coast is worried about port congestion as energy export projects grow.
Bill Diehl, the president of the Greater Houston Port Bureau, has rejected concerns about port congestion in the Houston area.
And though there are no LNG projects in operation or under construction in Houston, he says the federal government and developers are considering about vessel traffic in these projects.
"These companies are investing billions. They are doing their research about where is the most logical place to be," he said.
