A group of nearly two dozen Conservative MPs, led by former leader Iain Duncan Smith, has warned that Joe Biden’s decision to curb US energy exports to the UK and Europe risks making his allies reliant on Russia to meet their energy needs.
In a letter to the White House, more than 50 parliamentarians from eight countries, including Italy, France and Spain, condemned Biden’s decision and said it risked “undermining America’s allies, and the Western order” with “significant negative impacts on European energy security”.
In January, Biden paused approvals for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals that export the fuel to Europe and Asia, where it is in hot demand. The Department of Energy will conduct a review into the economic and environmental impacts of projects seeking approval.
The move was cheered by climate activists as the US has become the world’s largest exporter of LNG.
However, critics argue the freeze could trigger a spike in European energy prices, which have already been elevated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The UK has banned Russian LNG imports since last January as part of a series of sanctions against Vladimir Putin. The European Parliament last week voted to pass rules allowing the EU governments to ban Russian LNG imports.
In the letter sent on Wednesday, MPs pointed out that Britain is preparing to expand its imports and storage of LNG from the US via a new long-term contract signed by Grain LNG, which is owned by National Grid.
Grain signed a long-term terminal use agreement with US firm Venture Global in February that is said to guarantee storage covering up to five per cent of UK gas demand. The letter said that these plans could be put in doubt following Biden’s decision.
Duncan Smith commented: “I urge President Biden to look beyond just US politics. US LNG exports have proved a lifeline for the UK and Europe in the wake of Putin’s brutal assault on Ukraine and the severing of Russian gas supplies to the West. They are up over 140 per cent since 2021, just after the start of the war.
“Banning the building of new LNG terminals will be seen as short-sighted, which will risk the explosion in energy prices in the UK and Europe. The irony is that President Biden has attacked his opponent Donald Trump for what he believes to be ‘isolationist polices’, and yet this decision will turn out to be a very isolationist policy indeed. The only winner on this decision sadly will be Putin.”
Craig Mackinlay, a Tory MP and chair of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, added: “[Biden] told us all that ‘America is Back’ as a reliable partner – but his block on future US LNG exports is a genuine threat to energy security, and future economic stability, in Britain and across Europe.”
Former President Donald Trump, who will almost certainly be the Republican nominee to go up against Biden in November’s general election, has promised to restore the permits and back US LNG supply to British and European allies if elected.