The United States is in a unique position to use its energy resources to increase its leverage on the international stage, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said. Legislation enacted in response to the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s limits U.S. options for crude oil exports. Murkowski, an Alaskan Republican and ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said exporting more oil and natural gas could be an economic asset at home as well as a geopolitical tool overseas. “The United States has an historic opportunity to generate enormous geopolitical and economic benefits by expanding its role in the global gas trade,” she testified Tuesday. “We should send a powerful signal to the world that the United States is ready to assert its role as a leader on energy.” U.S. policymakers have called for more energy exports to Europe to counter Russia’s economic influence in the region. […]