We Congress to Lift the Oil Export Ban More Than Ever

Cohete Rojo · May 6, 2014

*Title should read: We Need Congress to Lift the Oil Export Ban More Than Ever

A glut of light sweet crude and a lack of refinery capacity threaten to curbe oil prices lower, hurting domestic energy companies and American jobs. This can be remedied by congressional approval to allow oil companies to export their oil. In particular are the light oils and condensates produced in North America's ultra-tight oil plays. Forget the XL pipeline, the US needs oil exports.

Federal lawmakers should overturn the ban on exporting crude oil produced in the United States. As recently as half a decade ago, oil companies had no interest in exporting U.S. crude oil, but that has changed. Oil production has grown more in the United States over the past five years than anywhere else in the world, even as domestic oil consumption has declined. With these changes has come a widening gap among the types of oil that U.S. fields produce, the types that U.S. refiners need, the products that U.S. consumers want, and the infrastructure in place to transport the oil. Allowing companies to export U.S. crude oil as the market dictates would help solve this mismatch. Under federal law, however, it is illegal for companies to export crude oil in all but a few circumstances. Over the past year, the Department of Commerce granted licenses to several oil companies to export a small amount of U.S. crude oil. But these opaque, ad hoc exceptions are insufficient. Removing all proscriptions on crude oil exports, except in extraordinary circumstances, will strengthen the U.S. economy and promote the efficient development of the country's energy sector.

http://www.cfr.org/oil/case-allowing-us-crude-oil-exports/p31005
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The Obama administration has done its part in assisting US domestic energy companies by granting LNG export licenses to non-free trade countries. The Department of Commerce has granted some license to export 'lightly refined' oil. His administration has also done a good job of ensuring that the XL pipeline's plans be put under environmental review. It is now time for the congress to act.

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We Congress to Lift the Oil Export Ban More Than Ever

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