ERIE, Pennsylvania Sept 26 (Reuters) - Drillers in

energy-rich Pennsylvania this week called on Democratic

presidential candidate Kamala Harris to detail her position on

natural gas, a fuel the energy industry bills as clean but which

climate activists say is a global warming menace.

President Joe Biden put a freeze on new liquefied natural

gas (LNG) export permits in January to study its environmental

impacts, in an election-year move aimed at making gains with the

party's green voting blocks.

But it is now Harris squaring off against Republican rival

Donald Trump, who has said he would immediately lift the permit

freeze if elected.

If she wins, she will likely be tasked with unwinding the

pause and incorporating any new recommendations from the

promised review, which the administration says is expected to

land after November's election.

Pennsylvania, a must win state for both Harris and Trump, is

the nation's second largest producer of natural gas. The state's

natural gas is tightly locked in shale rock and requires

fracking to extract.

"We need more details," said Dave Callahan, president of the

Marcellus Shale Coalition, whose members gathered in northeast

Pennsylvania this week for an annual conference.

Reuters talked to a dozen natural gas and drilling

executives who attended the conference, all of whom said they

are still guessing about Harris's energy policy.

"I think the public should want to know what her position is

on these matters prior to the election, because, ultimately,

they are the ones who will be impacted," said Rob Boulware,

director of stakeholder relations for Seneca Resources Company,

a major Marcellus Shale natural gas producer.

A spokesperson for Harris' campaign acknowledged the

industry's need for clarity, but suggested the details of her

approach on LNG need to be guided by the outcome of the review.

"The Vice President believes that we need to make decisions

informed by the best economic and scientific information

-including projected impacts on energy costs, energy security,

the environment, and public health," the campaign aide said.

Harris has adopted a plan of what aides call "strategic

ambiguity" on energy policy to avoid alienating environmental

activists and moderate voters this November.

She no longer supports a ban on oil and gas fracking on

federal lands, like she did during her 2020 presidential run.

The United States is the world's top producer of natural

gas, and became the No. 1 exporter of LNG in 2022 as Europe

looked to America to wean itself off Russia's vast energy

supplies following the invasion of Ukraine.

That's been a boon for U.S. natural gas producers like Devon

Energy Corp ( DVN ) and Exxon Mobil Corp. ( XOM )

In July, a federal judge blocked Biden's decision to freeze

new LNG export permits, ruling the administration overreached

its authority. However, the ruling didn't require the

administration to issue new permits and it has only issued one

since.

Toby Rice, CEO of EQT, a major natural gas producer, told a

room of natural gas officials at the coalition gathering that

political decisions were harming consumers.

"How can we have tremendous energy resources under our feet,

but energy bills in this country are going up 35%?" he asked.

"These bizarre things are happening in energy because political

force has overwhelmed market forces."

Much of the increase in gas prices in recent years relates

to increased global demand for U.S. natural gas since Russia

invaded Ukraine.

In June, U.S. producers exported 356.4 billion cubic feet of

LNG, up from 109 billion cubic feet just four years earlier,

according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information

Administration. Roughly 40% went to European allies such as

Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

North America's LNG export capacity, meanwhile, is projected

to more than double by the end of this decade to over 24 billion

cubic feet per day, the EIA projects.

Currently, gas from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale flows to

the Gulf Coast and Maryland's Cove Point terminal before it is

exported. But the industry harbors hopes for an LNG export

facility closer to home in the Philadelphia area.