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Any of that have to do with 2 years ago... http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/print-edition/2012/06/15/liquefied-natural-gas-exports-could.html

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“The bulk of your natural gas demand is going to come from power generation and the retirement of coal plants, and that’s certainly a longer-term trend that’s going to play out over the next few years,” he says.

Tillerson says Exxon is also evaluating options for exporting liquefied natural gas from places such as the Golden Pass terminal in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska or western Canada. He said the company views such projects on a 25-year horizon, and gas prices aren’t the driving factor.

“What’s the cost of supply of these resources, what’s the cost of the liquefaction plant? What are the markets that can be served by an export project, and how is it going to compete against other new sources that are being developed as well around the world?” Tillerson says. “It will be on that basis as opposed to us thinking we’re smart enough to know what North American gas prices are going to be 20 years from now.”

Caruso says about 10 permit applications are pending with the Department of Energy for natural gas export terminals. One has been approved — Houston-based Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal on the Texas-Louisiana border.

Exxon’s movement on LNG exports will be influential because of its assets in places like Alaska and western Canada, Caruso says. The key markets for North American LNG exports are Asian nations like Japan and China, which are currently paying $15 to $17 per thousand cubic foot for imported natural gas from Australia, Indonesia and the Middle East, he says.

“That’s a very attractive market, should prices stay anywhere near that range, because most people think you can get North American gas delivered to Asia between $9 and $10 cost to the exporter, so that’s a huge upside potential there,” Caruso says.

Matt Joyce is a staff writer for sister publication the Dallas Business Journal, where this article originally appeared.