As global imports of Russian liquified natural gas surge, Sen. Katie Britt’s warning becomes reality

Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) warned that foreign adversaries would benefit from the Biden Administration blocking new approvals of pending applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.

Now it appears Britt’s predication is coming true as France is importing more LNG from Russia. According to reports, shipments of Russian LNG to France more than doubled the first half of this year, while imports to EU countries overall have increased by 7%.

“Foreign customers will simply turn to other LNG suppliers across the globe, including to our primary adversaries,” Britt said in February. “This irresponsible, job-killing move will effectively weaken America’s role as the world’s leading exporter of LNG and further diminish the American energy dominance that President Biden inherited.”

RELATED: Britt promotes effort to unlock American liquefied natural gas potential

Because of Biden’s policies and tensions in the Middle East, France was importing less from other suppliers, including the United States, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt and Nigeria.

Britt attempted to reverse Biden’s LNG policy by pushing the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act, which would take away the requirement for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) leadership to approve of it.

Britt said the bill was necessary because Biden “handed a major victory to both Vladimir Putin and far-left climate activists by pausing approvals of pending applications for U.S. LNG exports.”

The import data comes from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S. nonprofit with a goal of speeding the world’s transition to more sustainable energy, which showed that companies imported almost 4.4 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG to France in the first half of this year, compared to more than 2 billion cubic meters in the same period a year ago.

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee