(Offshore Energy)—As informed, the Department of Energy’s oversight was withdrawn under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) for ship-to-ship transfers of liquefied natural gas as a bunkering fuel at the end of February 2025.
With the DOE’s jurisdiction gone, the path has now been cleared for LNG bunkering to be performed in US ports, US waters as well as international waters—a move anticipated to “streamline” operations and make bunkering of this alternative fuel “more efficient and accessible.”
The US government noted in its statement, however, that bunkering-related activity in the territorial sea of a foreign country—including foreign ports—shall still be considered an export.
Commenting on the event, Tala Goudarzi, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, shared: “Today’s action is a significant step in reducing regulatory burdens and helping this important segment of the LNG market continue to grow.”
The order issued by DOE reverses a December 2024 order issued to JAX LNG—a small-scale coastal LNG facility located at Dames Point near Jacksonville, Florida, that dispenses this clean fuel to various ship types, such as cruise ships, car carriers, petroleum tankers and container vessels—whereby the government asserted new oversight for the use of LNG as a marine bunkering fuel.
The wider context, however, stretches further than that. In January 2024, following former US President Joe Biden’s administration’s decision to pause pending approvals of LNG exports to non-free trade agreement nations to review their environmental and economic impacts, critics saw it as a ‘reversal’ of the DOE’s previous stance, where it reaffirmed its commitment to liquefied natural gas export approvals.
Among the opponents of the decision, some, including the Pelican Institute and Liberty Justice Center, moved to file a lawsuit, seeking to overturn the decision, but the LNG playing field remained uncertain.
The most recent decision to ease the barriers revolving around LNG bunkering activity in the US comes on the heels of President Donald Trump returning to the White House for his second term.
Having declared a national energy emergency, President Trump announced a temporary freeze on offshore wind leasing, as well as a reversal of the US LNG export permitting pause, among other initiatives he reportedly plans to implement to bolster the role of ‘Big Oil’ companies in the energy sector.