Congress is likely going to lift the nation’s 40-year-old ban on oil exports as part of broader spending and tax legislation , according to congressional aides of both parties, a historic policy change that would reflect momentous political and economic shifts driven by a boom in U.S. oil production. Allowing oil exports is a key component of a deal lawmakers are negotiating as part of spending and tax measures Congress is aiming to pass by Wednesday. People familiar with the tentative deal cautioned that nothing was final yet and that its final shape could change. But supporters of ending the ban see grounds for hope. “We’re guardedly optimistic that this will be in fact part of the deal that gets done,” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.) said in an interview Friday. Still, Ms. Heitkamp, who was one of the earliest […]