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House move on oil exports moot, White House says

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stresses decisions on U.S. crude oil exports rest with the Commerce Department. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) — Congressional moves to repeal a crude oil exports ban are irrelevant because those decisions rest with the Commerce Department, the White House said. The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a measure to lift a ban on U.S. crude oil exports. The ban was enacted in the 1970s after Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries briefly stopped exporting oil to the United States because of Washington’s support for Israel. Rep. Joe Barton , R-Texas, who introduced the bill, said the U.S. oil boom needs to benefit overseas allies as much as it has the domestic economy. "The ban on exporting crude oil imposes an estimated $200 billion – $600 billion cost to the U.S. economy, discourages crude oil production, […]

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Clinton Would Support End to Oil Export Ban Only With Concessions

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says she would support lifting the US ban on crude exports if it meant a move toward cleaner energy. Durham, N.H., Sept 18 (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Friday she would support lifting the 40-year-old U.S. ban on crude exports only if the measure included concessions from the oil and gas industry to move toward cleaner energy. Clinton said she had not yet seen any legislation on lifting the ban that included concessions from the fossil fuel industry, In the absence of that, "I don’t think the ban should be lifted," Clinton told reporters. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass a measure scrapping the trade restriction in coming weeks, after a panel in the chamber passed the bill on Thursday. Oil drillers say the ban needs to be repealed to keep the domestic energy boom alive. Opponents […]

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House Democrats Keep Door Open to Crude Exports, Seek Sweeteners

House Democrats said a measure to repeal decades-old U.S. restrictions on crude oil exports needs more environmental and consumer protections to win their backing. The Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the measure by a 31-19 vote Thursday, sending the legislation to the full House of Representatives. Three Democrats joined 28 Republicans voting in favor. A floor vote could come as soon as the end of the month. The bill cleared the committee with one amendment, which would allow the U.S. president to reimpose export restrictions during a national emergency. “I frankly don’t see what’s in this for the average American,” Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the panel’s Democratic leader, said before the vote. The bill “is a blunt object which broadly undermines 40 years of protections for national security, our economy, consumers and the environment.” U.S. exports of most crude oil were banned by Congress in […]

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Does Anyone Even Want to Buy Crude Oil From the U.S.?

Given current prices, does anyone even want to buy crude oil from the U.S.? After the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to end a four-decade ban on most oil exports, crude in the U.S. remains more expensive than foreign supplies and domestic demand is robust. Supporters of expanded exports, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, say ending the ban would ease a glut from the shale boom and lower global prices. Refiners opposed to the legislation say it could increase gasoline costs for U.S. consumers. Lifting the ban won’t lead to a big jump in shipments, at least in the short term, said John Auers, executive vice president at energy consultant Turner, Mason & Co. Light oil in Louisiana was more than $2 a barrel more expensive Wednesday than Brent, the international benchmark, making it unattractive for overseas refiners seeking to capitalize on the shale boom. Refineries in […]

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BHP adds voice to U.S. oil export debate

Both sides of the U.S. energy sector — upstream and downstream — continue debate over wisdom of repealing ban on crude oil exports. Photo by iofoto/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) — Australian energy giant BHP Billiton said the United States could send a strong message to allies and markets alike with a repeal of the ban on oil exports. Republican leaders in the U.S. House and Senate have moved legislation meant to end the ban placed on U.S. crude oil exports after Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in the 1970s blocked their exports to the United States in response to Washington’s support for Israel. Addressing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said a larger U.S. presence on the global energy market could have significant consequences . "The United States would send a strong signal with the repeal of […]

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US House committee passes crude oil export bill, but hurdles remain

The US House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday approved a bill to lift all restrictions on US crude oil exports by a 31-19 vote. While it could be voted on by the full House later this month, the bill’s path in the Senate remains unclear and it faces opposition from the White House, limiting the likelihood that an export policy change could become law before President Barack Obama leaves office in 2017. On Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the administration "wouldn’t support" the crude export bill because such a policy change should be made by the Department of Commerce. A Commerce spokesman said Wednesday that the agency was not working to change current export policy, which restricts US crude exports with some exceptions. The bill Thursday, H.R. 702, was approved by all committee Republicans, but just three Democrats: Representatives Gene Green of Texas, Tony Cardenas of […]

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White House called on to act on oil exports

Responsibility lies with the White House to overturn a ban on crude oil exports, an industry group says. Photo by tcly/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (UPI) — If the White House opposes legislative action to overturn a ban on oil exports, the onus is on the executive branch to take action, an industry group said. A House energy committee pushed ahead with legislation that would end a ban on crude oil exports enacted when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries stopped shipping oil to the United States in the 1970s. In what industry supporters describe as an era of energy abundance brought on by U.S. shale oil deposits, Republican leaders in the House say U.S. policies are out of date. White House spokesman John Earnest said ending the ban is a matter for the Commerce Department, saying the office of President Barack Obama does not support legislative […]

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Rubio: Priority No. 1 is lifting U.S. oil export ban

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) pledges to lift 1970s ban on U.S. crude oil exports if elected president. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI OKLAHOMA CITY, Sept. 3 (UPI) — Lifting a ban on U.S. crude oil exports will bring "immediate" economic stimulus to the economy, Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio said. Sen. Rubio, R-Fla., addressed supporters in Oklahoma, saying one of the first things he’d do if elected president would be to lift the 1970s era ban on exports of domestic crude oil. "President Nixon signed it into law in the 1970s — long before the economy had been fundamentally transformed by globalization and technological innovations, long before the hydraulic-fracturing and shale revolutions had launched a new era of American energy," he said. "Lifting the crude-oil export ban will be an immediate boon to our economy." The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the interests of the oil and […]

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LNG Export

The Sabine Pass LNG export terminal. From a mile away, at the distant end of a flat, two-lane road, the Sabine Pass Liquefied Natural Gas terminal materializes like an alien city from the haze of the Louisiana bayou. Five white cylinders with domed tops, each 140 feet tall and 225 feet in diameter, rise from the empty horizon. Set on the Texas border 4 miles from the mouth of the Sabine River on the Gulf Coast, the terminal is one of the largest industrial energy facilities under construction in North America. The domes, made of nickel alloy and wrapped in a layer of carbon steel, are essentially giant freezers, each capable of holding 81,000 tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at -260F. Cheniere Energy, based in Houston, has spent more than a decade, and upwards of $20 billion, turning 1,000 acres of swamp into the first LNG export terminal […]

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Effects of removing U.S. crude export restrictions depend on price, resource assumptions

graph of propject U.S. crude oil production, as explained in the article text A new study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on the potential implications of allowing more crude oil exports finds that effects on domestic crude oil production are key to determining the other effects of a policy change. Gasoline prices would be either unchanged or slightly reduced. Trade in crude oil and petroleum products would also be affected. The recent rise in domestic crude oil production from 5.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2009 to 8.7 million b/d in 2014 and the prospect of continued supply growth have sparked interest in the question of how the relaxation or removal of current policies, which restrict but do not ban exports of crude oil produced in the United States, might affect markets for both crude oil and petroleum products over the next decade. EIA’s new report, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple