“To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to ban the export of natural gas produced in the United States, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings that—(1) natural gas exports increase domestic gas and electricity prices, as evidenced by federal analyses including a November 2025 EIA prediction of 16% higher prices in 2026, a December 2024 DOE study projecting 31% higher wholesale prices by 2050 (adding up to $122 annually per household in gas and electricity costs and $125 billion to industry energy costs), and earlier DOE and EIA studies confirming exports raise prices and volatility; (2) U.S. households paid $12 billion more for natural gas from January through September 2025 than the same period in 2024 (a 22% increase, or roughly $124 per household); (3) surging U.S. LNG exports from September 2021 to December 2022 increased consumer energy bills by $111 billion; (4) the U.S. is the world's largest natural gas producer and LNG exporter, with multiple record-setting export months in 2025 including over 10 million metric tons in October 2025; (5) natural gas is primarily methane, the second-largest contributor to atmospheric warming; and (6) natural gas infrastructure including pipelines and LNG terminals causes significant health impacts, disproportionately sited in communities with existing polluting infrastructure.
This section amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6201 et seq.) to direct the President to (1) restrict exports of natural gas to keep domestic energy costs low and (2) promulgate a rule prohibiting exports of U.S.-produced natural gas, subject to exemptions—approved by joint resolution of Congress—for exports consistent with the national interest (without unreasonably raising residential consumer costs) or critical to the national security of the U.S. or a strategic ally. It also makes a conforming amendment to the EPCA table of contents and strikes subsections (b) through (d) of the provision prohibiting federal restrictions on crude oil exports (42 U.S.C. 6212a(b)-(d)), enacted in 2015 to lift the prior 40-year ban. (Thus, federal officials may impose restrictions on crude oil exports under other authorities.)