US Congress to end 40-year-old ban on oil export

According to the Department of Energy, the United States could become a net exporter of crude oil in the next decade or so.

Additionally, if the spending bill is passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, more funding for the state’s national labs such as Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant would also be provided.

“With the administration’s push to allow Iran to export its oil to the global market, it’s time for USA producers to have the same opportunity”.

“Business leaders representing every sector of the USA economy applaud Congress for voting to end the outdated ban on American oil exports”, said Nicholas K Akins, chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power Company, Inc. and Chair of the Business Roundtable Committee on Energy and Environment.

The world is awash in oil, driving down crude prices from more than $100 a barrel 18 months ago to the $30 range today. With the increased use of fracking and other drilling technologies in recent years, USA oil production has shot up almost 90% since August 2008, helping lower gasoline prices to levels not seen since 2009.

“This is the biggest deal for addressing climate change that we are going to see”, Heinrich said in an interview.

The ban which was lifted had come into being in the 1970s as a USA reaction to an oil embargo imposed by Arab member nations of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“At current pricing, it is more economic to land West African or North Sea grades into the U.S. Gulf Coast rather than bring WTI south via pipe”, the note said.

For example, in exchange for Democrats’ support for lifting ban on the crude oil exports, Republicans agreed to extend wind and solar tax credits and authorize a conservation fund for three years.

The $1.1 trillion government spending bill passed Friday morning in the House with a vote of 316 to 113 and passed the Senate with a vote of 65-33. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club opposed ending the crude-export limits, saying that any increase in oil product would exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions. And already, US exports of refined oil products – which were not banned – have doubled in the past eight years.

Crude oil exports will benefit the US energy industry. “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.

Not only is the lifting of the oil export ban a promising result of passing the bill, but it also contains measures that will provide five-year extensions of tax breaks to boost development of renewable energy.