Opinion

A strong case for liquefied natural gas Case for liquefied natural gas exports strengthened by economic power's interest.

It's a sign of how much our nation's energy picture has changed that the offshore terminals we're debating using to export domestic liquefied natural gas were originally built to handle imports from Qatar and other gas-rich nations.

The shale gas revolution changed all that. Thanks to an abundance of domestic natural gas, exporting the liquefied version is under discussion in Congress. It was heartening to see 110 U.S. representatives from both parties sign a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu urging approval of LNG exports.

This is a hard step politically for many lawmakers to take, given memories of natural gas shortages that remain fresh in mind decades later. In many parts of the country outside of Texas, the shale gas story and its impact on supplies isn't widely known, much less understood. The political battle is far from won.

But that is changing. It is heartening to notice that many of the signatories to the letter to Secretary Chu were from well outside the traditional oil patch. The geography of shale is one explanation for that support: economically viable formations extend across the south, up the East Coast and into the upper Midwest.

It was also encouraging to learn that a large customer for liquefied natural gas is already waiting patiently in line for export production to begin.

That customer is India, as the Chronicle editorial board learned from Houston-based Consul General P. Harish in a recent briefing.

India's chief carbon-based resource is coal, according to Harish, and the use of pipelines to bring in supplies of natural gas from the north is made prohibitively expensive by the rugged terrain of the Himalaya Mountain Range.

Under the circumstances, tankering the LNG from the Texas Gulf Coast at prices as high as $8 per mcf makes good economic sense. With prices in the $3.25/mcf range, the LNG is a bargain by comparison with supplies from other sources.

The benefits of the shale revolution long ago ceased to surprise us. But the possibility of exporting liquefied natural gas from Houston all the way to India comes close.