This bill requires that increasing percentages of U.S. natural gas and crude oil exports be transported on American-built and American-flagged vessels. For liquefied natural gas, exporters must use qualifying U.S. vessels for at least 2 percent of exports in the first seven years, gradually increasing to 15 percent by year 22 and beyond. For crude oil, the requirement starts at 3 percent in the first seven years, reaching 10 percent by year 14. Vessels must be either newly built in the United States with domestically manufactured major components, or existing U.S.-documented vessels retrofitted in American shipyards with American-made components. The bill includes a waiver process if components cost 25 percent more or face unavailability, and exempts exports to countries with free trade agreements. The legislation also requires energy companies to provide training opportunities for American mariners and directs the Department of Energy to publicly track and forecast energy exports by vessel.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.