US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) welcomed news that the USDepartment of Commerce has approved a crude oil exchange with Mexico. “Although it took 2 months from the time of the favorable announcement to any actual approvals, this is a long-awaited step in the right direction,” she said. “We must move expeditiously to modernize our broader oil export policy and lift the ban on sales to our friends and allies.” Murkowski received the news after she wrote a letter to US Sec. of Commerce Penny Pritzker asking whether any oil exchanges had been approved with Mexico months the Obama administration said it would approve such transactions. In her Nov. 16 response, Pritzker said DOC’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a license to an applicant on Oct. 22 after delaying the action at the applicant’s request.