Scalise Pushes End of Ban On US Oil Exports

Oil Change International estimated an increase of almost 10 billion barrels of oil production was a realistic expectation, which would release more than 4.4 billion tons of Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when burned – the equivalent of annual emissions of 1,252 average USA coal power plants.

“Though President Obama had previously spoken out against lifting the ban, we believe that he will sign the bill in part because of the renewable energy tax breaks included in the legislation”, he said in the emailed note. “Yet, growth has been hampered by a decades-old policy that forbids us from exporting oil to our allies while countries that fund terrorism have held a monopoly on the market”.

“I’m disappointed that the oil export ban was not a stand-alone piece of legislation and that the Obama Administration held it hostage all year”.

US shale drillers will soon be able to sell their oil all over the world. The framework would permit companies to export crude oil to most markets without a license, except in the narrow circumstances outlined above. The price of oil has plunged to its lowest levels in more than six years because supplies continued to rise as the global economy struggles.

USA oil exports are “not going to happen Monday, but within a week or two, you’re going to see contracts be developed and a system come into place”, Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and the House’s chief advocate for ending the export restrictions, said in an interview Thursday.

Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday that it expects the industry to continue limping at least through 2017 as weak cash flows discourage drilling and the declining values for oil and gas fields make asset sales less effective tools to generate cash.

In a recently published report, “Crude Oil Exports and the Louisiana Economy”, LSU assistant professor Gregory Upton of the Center for Energy Studies wrote that, “Lifting the export ban and allowing for free trade of all hydrocarbons can create an environment that allows for the Gulf Coast to become the epicenter for hydrocarbon trading”.

“This is a big win for American jobs and for our energy industry”, Mr. Ryan said.

Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates argued that the benchmark USA crude is too close in price to Brent, the London-traded European benchmark.

“Just days after we all were given new hope in Paris, the empire has struck back”, said Stephen Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change International.

“It will keep the price of gasoline lower at the pump for consumers because of more supply, and it will bolster national security through energy security”, said Hoeven, who has been working to get the ban lifted.

But recent changes in the world market have shifted Helms’ outlook, and he’s now projecting that lifting the ban could affect Bakken oil prices by $2 a barrel.