I have written about the 1975 Oil Export Ban two times now. Why do I keep going back to it? Personally, I think that is something that needs to stay on people’s minds. By allowing the U.S. to export any oil and gas products, will boost our economy and take power away from OPEC. Two very positive outcomes, in my opinion.
Legislators know that getting this export lifted is not going to be easy. For that reason, a few senators have banded together to sponsor a bill that will allow for crude oil and light oil known as condensate to be free to export, just as gasoline and diesel are.
Oil production has grown in the United States more in the past five years than anywhere else in the world. That is pretty impressive. Of course horizontal drilling has been a big part of that growth. The drillers in the shale play around the U.S. have been so successful that we cannot keep up with the storage of all that lucrative liquid.
The statement below is from a Rice University study that was done in March of this year by David Ruth. The study was then presented by Kenneth Medlock, the National Press Club in Washington D.C. senior director and paper’s author
“The United States has recently experienced an unprecedented surge in domestic crude supply, thanks to significant production increases from areas like the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale formation,” Medlock said. “The production surge has led to a large decline in U.S, crude imports. The trade balance effects extend to petroleum production markets where, due to stagnant domestic demand, the U.S. has become a net exporter of petroleum products over the last few years.”
Medlock found that lifting the ban would level the playing field for the U.S. as it faces continued discounted crude oil prices relative to internationally traded crudes. If fact, the study shows that because the majority of light tight oil produced from the U.S. shale formations is of higher quality than both the WTI and Brent if it were exported it would fetch higher process than WTI and Brent in the international market, he said.
**To read this entire article click http://bakerinstitute.org/research/lift-or-not-lift-us-crude-oil-export-ban-implications-price-and-energy-security/
With great studies like the one above, Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Senator John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, and Senate Majority Leder Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, are gaining momentum to get the ban lifted. They are working to get cosponsors for the bill and the bill may get help if it is pushed through Sen. Murkowski’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee. However, it is still far from getting the 60 votes needed to not be filibustered in the Senate.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska above.
I will be keeping up with the progress of this bill. I hope that it is overturned sooner than later, but only time will tell.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/05/13/senators-campaign-to-end-ban-on-crude-oil-exports/#32308101=0
http://news.rice.edu/2015/03/25/new-rice-university-study-supports-lifting-ban-on-us-oil-exports/
