Cost of US regulation is certainly a factor.
But what I had read in previous discussion, before Shell even proposed this plant (they have two others in Qatar and Indonesia) was the strong Natural Gas Demand in the US compared to the production rate.
Regulatory costs in the US are a drag, to be sure. But it seems to me the greater risk to their hefty $20B outlay was currency risk. In other words, how strong will the dollar remain over the life of the investment, and in the face of that, could they justify it to the shareholders.
Indeed. I do not doubt the massive American demand for Natural Gas. But instinct is telling me that rational companies have decided the expense and uncertainty caused by Democrats’ hatred of hydrocarbon fuel preclude development of the source.
I suspect our irrational federal government has become the greatest risk for companies such as Shell.