In 2014, when most energy executives were focused on domestic production growth, Kelcy Warren was already thinking about exports. The Gulf Coast, he said that year, was the fastest-growing market in the industry. He moved to buy the Lake Charles LNG facility not as an import terminal, which it had been built to be, but as the foundation for an export operation that would eventually send American natural gas to markets in Asia and Europe.

That early bet looks prescient today. The U.S. now exports 13 billion cubic feet of LNG per day, and projections suggest that figure could approach 30 bcf as European countries look to reduce dependence on Russian gas and Asian demand continues to grow. Energy Transfer, the company Warren co-founded in 1996, is positioned at the center of that export expansion.

Building the Export Infrastructure

Energy Transfer is not just an LNG player. The company exports LPG, butane, and ethane to 93 countries and has become the largest global exporter of ethane a natural gas byproduct that was largely discarded before the shale era created new volumes and new uses for it. Energy Transfer is the only midstream company exporting from both the Gulf Coast and the East Coast, operating terminals including Lake Charles in Louisiana and Marcus Hook in Pennsylvania, a former refinery that was converted into an export hub.

Kelcy Warren has described the logic of this expansion in terms of market balance. “From my industry, which moves on spreads and volumes, I have to know how I can commit to the driller in West Texas, that I have a place to handle their supply,” he has said. Without export markets, domestic overproduction creates price crashes that hurt everyone in the supply chain.

Warren stepped back from day-to-day CEO duties in 2020, now serving as executive chairman. But the export infrastructure he championed remains one of Energy Transfer’s defining competitive strengths. Follow this page on Instagram, to learn more.

Find more information about Kelcy Warren https://ir.energytransfer.com/board-member/kelcy-warren