McCarthy plans nation’s four-decade ban on oil exports; White House opposes

So far President Obama has not indicated where he stands on the legislation, although the administration has taken some steps to allow the export of lightly refined oil and an exchange of crude oil grades with Mexico.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy brought his message of energy independence to the heart of the energy capital Tuesday during an appearance at the Greater Houston Partnership’s downtown headquarters when he announced that a House committee vote to end the decades-old oil export ban is scheduled for Thursday. “The growing supply of American oil is outpacing domestic demand and needs a new outlet”, said Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the Energy & Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, in an opening statement for a bill to lift the ban. “It will help diplomacy around the world and, most importantly, it will create jobs”, McCarthy said. API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.8 million U.S.jobs and 8 percent of the US economy. “Administrative agencies propose rules that are aimed at punishing fossil fuels; and as the White House speaks of an all of the above energy policy that has in reality been a huge giveaway of federal benefits to unproven advanced technologies that promise too much and deliver too little”.

“If there was ever a time to lift the oil export ban, it’s now”, McCarthy said in a speech to a Houston business group.

Instead of pushing oil exports, McCarthy should advocate ending tax breaks for oil drillers and use the cash to invest in solar and wind energy, he said. “And that opportunity lies in lifting the outdated ban on exporting crude oil from the United States“.

While answering questions about the ban on U.S. oil exports, Sen.

The bill will likely pass the GOP-controlled House, but bills to lift the export ban have met resistance in the Senate, where there is concern that lifting the ban could raise the price of gasoline. “Our allies can say my only option is not buying oil from a dictator in Russian Federation”, he said.