Energy, environment provisions give both sides reason to cheer year-end budget deal

Environmental groups including the Sierra Club opposed ending the crude-export limits, saying that any increase in oil output would exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions.

The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries put into place an oil embargo after the USA sided with Israel in the Yom Kippur War and the price of oil spiked. “Nevertheless, I appreciate the hard work of the members of Congress who fought to lift the ban so our Texas energy producers can compete on a level playing field”.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said that could be a deal-breaker for him when the package is up for a Senate vote.

The legislation, a House Democratic aide said, has other concerning provisions for progressives, including campaign finance riders and a lack of bankruptcy protection for Puerto Rico. The largest is proposed in Vancouver, Washington.

However, exporting USA crude could alleviate some imbalances in the world oil market.

Representative Nancy Pelosi and some of her fellow Democrats had concerns that opening US oil to exports would hurt independent refiners by raising the price of domestic crude to global prices.

Although few expect to see significant exports in the short-term, lifting the ban could help reverse that price trend-and keep some struggling companies in business.

The ban was adopted in 1975. That decline lasted for nearly 40 years and the USA increasingly relied on oil imports.

According to Reuters, the Senate voted 65-33 to lift the ban as part of a $1.8 trillion government spending and tax relief bill.

An apparent deal in Congress to lift a decades-old crude oil export ban could cut into the profits of refineries – including four in Jefferson County – but the impact to the local facilities is unlikely to be severe.

“Opening new markets for USA oil will boost production in New Mexico and throughout the West”, Pearce said in the news release. The credits would receive five-year extensions, bridging the gap until the implementation of the Clean Power Plan in 2022 and will then phase down over a period of several years.

Briggs said Russian Federation and, more recently, Saudi Arabia, have sold oil to American allies in Europe and in Asia. The bill also reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund and increases conservation funding by $150,000,000 in FY’16.

However, supporters of the deal argue it may help promote renewable energy, pointing to a handful of tax benefits for wind and solar developers rumored to have been included.

But, Upton wrote, lifting the ban may spur investment to expand the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port to allow for imports and exports, which would create “a two-way trading hub” that could shift global focus to Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, making it a “global hub” for the industry.