On Sept. 7, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved Cheniere Energy Partners LP's bid to export LNG produced from a terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The facility could be the first to export gas produced in the Lower 48 states, primarily from the Barnett, Haynesville, Eagle Ford, Fayetteville, Woodford and Bossier basins in Texas and Louisiana, the report notes.

Specifically, the approval allows Cheniere's Sabine Pass Liquefaction subsidiary to export LNG to any nation that has the capacity to import the fuel and with which the U.S. has entered, or may in the future enter, a Free Trade Agreement, the Journal reports, citing an order by the DOE. The world's largest receiving terminal by regasification capacity, Sabine Pass has send-out capacity of 4 Bcf/d and storage capacity of 16.8 Bcf/d.

In August, Cheniere reportedly filed an application to export up to 16 million metric tons of LNG annually for 30 years, and also to build a multi-phase liquefaction facility, with an average capacity of 2.6 billion cubic feet a day from four LNG trains.

The FERC recently allowed Sabine Pass to use the terminal for the additional purpose of exporting foreign-sourced LNG, the Journal reports.

In spite of depressed gas prices, E&Ps continue to drill at an unprecedented rate in key shale plays dotting the U.S. Cheniere's proposal spotlights burgeoning gas supplies on the domestic front due to the recent shale frenzy sweeping North America.