Law360, New York (May 22, 2013, 5:46 PM EDT) -- The Office of Fossil Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy ended a nearly two-year moratorium on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals on Friday, May 17, when it conditionally approved the export of LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States (non-FTA countries). The approval order,[1] which specifically addresses the export application of Freeport LNG Expansion LP and FLNG Liquefaction LLC (together, FLEX), is the first non-FTA long-term LNG export authorization granted by the DOE since 2011, when all pending non-FTA export applications were put on hold while the DOE commissioned a study to examine the cumulative effects of such exports....