US Congress lifts ban on US crude oil export

Dan K. Eberhart, the CEO of Canary, LLC, said that the House of Representatives’ vote to lift the 40 year-old US crude oil export ban represents a historic reawakening for American energy.

“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for, a bellwether for change in our economy and an opportunity to open competitive, free market petroleum trade worldwide,” Eberhart said. “Representative Joe Barton, who sponsored H.R. 702, the bill lifting the ban, today won a resounding victory for all of us. The House vote 261 to 159 shows we are ready to reinvigorate American energy production, cut imports and free up additional supplies to provide allies and neutral nations with an alternate – and safe – source of petroleum supply.”

The ban on crude oil exports has been an American government policy since the 1970s, when the US suffered a devastating oil embargo courtesy of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The embargo instilled fears about US energy dependency and OPEC’s power as a “swing producer” to manipulate global petroleum supplies and prices at will. By December 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a ban on most US energy exports that remains in place today.

“Today, though, America’s boom in shale oil and gas exploration has pushed domestic petroleum stockpiles to near historic levels,” Eberhart continued. “Thanks to hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the US actually surpassed both Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s top energy producer in 2014. And we are now in the position of becoming ‘swing producer’ since Saudi Arabia has essentially relinquished that role.”

“All the signs are pointing to our future as the world’s energy superpower,” Eberhart says. “But we need strong action in the Senate so a final bill lifting the ban can be signed into law.”