He said private industry and members of the German parliament are now coming to the U.S. ambassador in Berlin and asking for meetings on increasing U.S. natural gas imports.
The U.S. challenge in Europe is, “candidly,” the Russians, Brouillette said. They can discount the price of natural gas to make it difficult for U.S. exports to compete, though European demand is still high.
Dan Eberhart, Trump donor and CEO of oil services firm Canary, says pipelines are very competitive when compared to shipping LNG, but the Russians are more vulnerable than some might believe.
“Russia’s efforts to use its natural resources to influence geopolitics is well known,” he said in an email. “But its success has been limited and it has far less leverage over Western Europe than is believed.”
Natural gas imports to Europe are expected to increase nearly 20 percent by 2040, Eberhart points out, citing International Energy Agency projections. This places the U.S. in a very good position "to assist in diversifying the energy supplies of our allies.”
Trump and the Polish government support energy deliveries that are resilient to any attempt by Russia to divert energy supplies. It's part of a strategic decision to diversify energy supplies in Central Europe and the Baltic region by relying on liquified natural gas from the U.S. and other countries.
To sustain the energy boom, the U.S. needs to improve its lagging infrastructure, says Foreman. That means more domestic pipelines to move crude oil and natural gas and additional export terminals.
Canary CEO Eberhart, who meets with Cabinet officials regularly, has called on the administration to make good on its promise to help build pipelines and export terminals, thus far an unfulfilled vow.
"Trump has promised a $1 trillion infrastructure program, financed by public-private partnerships, but has yet to deliver," Eberhart wrote in a recent op-ed. "Such a program could go a long way to unleash more U.S. energy into global markets, leaving America less vulnerable to power plays by Mideast states with poor human rights track records."
