The US has approved a new deal allowing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Morocco over the next two years, under a licence issued to Carib Energy (USA) LLC.
The approval, set out in Order DOE/HGEO No. 5406, allows the company to ship 14.6 billion cubic feet of gas between April 2026 and April 2028. That works out at 7.3 billion cubic feet a year.
The gas can come from US production or from LNG that was already imported into the United States. Carib Energy is allowed to manage the exports directly or act on behalf of others.
Morocco is included in a group of countries that have free trade agreements with the US and therefore benefit from faster approval rules for gas exports.
This group also includes Canada, Mexico, Chile and South Korea. For these countries, exports are automatically treated as being in the US interest, so they do not go through long extra checks.
For countries outside these agreements, the US uses a separate system for small shipments, capped at 51.75 billion cubic feet per year.
Carib Energy’s planned exports are far below that limit.
All shipments will go through a single site in Puerto Rico, at the Peñuelas terminal run with Crowley.
Gas arriving there will be packed into containers or smaller vessels and then shipped onwards. The system is designed for flexible, smaller deliveries rather than large tankers.
The company must send monthly reports showing how much gas is shipped and where it goes.
Buyers will also have to ensure the gas is only sold to approved countries. The licence lasts for two years.
The deal reflects Morocco’s special trade relationship with the US, which gives it easier access to energy imports.
It also comes as Morocco looks to secure more gas supplies while expanding its energy infrastructure and reducing reliance on single sources.
