The ability of the US refining sector to absorb burgeoning domestic production, particularly from areas like the Bakken and Eagle Ford that are heavily slanted towards light, sweet crude, is likely to be a central focus of the debate over whether to lift US restrictions on crude oil exports. Many producers have warned that the US will soon be oversupplied with light crude, as the bulk of the US refinery system is optimized to take heavier oil. Without the ability to export crude, US production could be shut in, producers say. But some refiners, who are opposed to lifting the de facto ban on exports, say they are rapidly adjusting their infrastructure to process lighter slates and that fears of an upcoming crude glut in the US are overblown. The US largely bans exports of crude under restrictions imposed by Congress in the wake of the 1973 Arab oil […]