The House Energy and Commerce Committee heard testimony Thursday on the validity of restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports at a time when production, largely from shale, is at 40-year highs. With U.S. oil production eclipsing 9 million barrels per day, those in the exploration and production sector say the time is ripe to consider repealing a 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports. Studies conducted by the Brookings Institution , IHS Energy, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office found there would be consumer benefits , like low gasoline prices, from easing the restrictions, though each found lifting the ban did little to eliminate foreign dependency. Deborah Gordon, director of energy programs at the Carnegie Endowment […]