Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of Dow Chemical Co., center, speaks during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing with John Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado, left to ... more

Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of Dow Chemical Co., right, looks on as John Hickenlooper, governor of Colorado, speaks during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. The top two members of a Senate committee for energy split over expanding U.S. natural gas exports, mirroring a disagreement between fuel consumers such as Dow Chemical Co. and producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Andrew Liveris; John Hickenlooper less

Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of Dow Chemical Co., right, looksissue of natural gas exports on Tuesday, as even self-proclaimed free-market enthusiasts questioned whether some federal limits are needed to constrain U.S. prices and give a boost to domestic manufacturing.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee that held a hearing on the issue, said his goal was to arrive at a "sweet spot where U.S. gas producers make enough money to continue producing and U.S. manufacturers have an affordable stable supply of natural gas."

Market forces would ensure that equilibrium, predicted Kenneth Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University. Medlock cast the fears of excessive exports as overblown, considering the current global market for liquefied natural gas is around 30 billion cubic feet per day, roughly the same