Ah - a huge gas market existed in Canada and the lower-48. The biggest gas market in the world.  Supplies were running low, which is why a bunch of companies spent billions on LnG IMPORT terminals - many thought the US was going to have to import LNG to meet demand. And then fracking happened and changed everything. 

One more point - the ONLY reason why Walker has a project to pitch is because the state and Exxon spent all of that money on engineering, design and permitting work. To the extent that Walker has a viable project it is because of the efforts of the Big three and the previous administration.