Top Biden official at Senate hearing defends liquefied natural gas pause

A top U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) official on Thursday defended President Joe Biden's pause on approvals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports at a Senate hearing called by a fellow Democrat who said he will investigate the decision.

Biden paused the approvals late last month so his administration can take a "hard look" at the environmental and economic impacts of the booming industry.

Deputy U.S. Energy Secretary David Turk told the Senate energy committee that the DOE will finish the review as quickly as possible but it he could not predict a timeline other than it would take "months, not years."

"It will not affect our ability to supply our allies," Turk said, adding that it does not affect already approved exports.

A U.S. official earlier on Thursday told Reuters "I don't think we're concerned at all about our ability to meet (European) demand." The review needs to analyze among other things whether more U.S. LNG exports could slow the adoption abroad of green hydrogen - where hydrogen fuel production would be powered by renewable energy instead of gas, the official said.

The United States became the world's top LNG exporter last year amid strong demand from Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the shipments are expected to double by the end of the decade and keep growing rapidly after that on projects already approved.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from natural gas producer West Virginia who called the hearing, said the pause sends the wrong signal to allies in Europe and Asia. The pause signals "the wrong direction for our country, a very wrong direction," Manchin said.

The European Commission however has said that the move will not have any short- to medium-term impacts on the EU's security of