New US law proposes increased domestic shipbuilding for LNG, crude exports

Three US lawmakers have introduced bipartisan and bicameral legislation requiring that increasing percentages of LNG and crude oil exports by the United States be transported on US-built, flagged, and crewed vessels.

The Energizing American Shipbuilding Act authored by Senators Roger F. Wicker and Robert P. Casey Jr. and Congressman John Garamendi would require that 15 per cent of total seaborne LNG exports by 2043 and 10 per cent of total seaborne crude oil exports by 2035 be transported exclusively on vessels built in American shipyards.

According to an estimate from the Shipbuilders Council of America, the bill would result in the construction of more than 40 ships: approximately 28 LNG carriers by 2043 and 12 oil tankers by 2035.

The authors said that, without the bill, all US exports of LNG and crude oil will continue to be on foreign vessels.