IPAA rejects CRUDE claim that condensate export decision was wrong

Sept. 8, 2014
The Independent Petroleum Association of America rejected claims a coalition of four independent US refiners made in a Sept. 4 letter to the US Department of Commerce that a late-June decision making two producers’ crude oil condensates eligible for export was wrong.

The Independent Petroleum Association of America rejected claims a coalition of four independent US refiners made in a Sept. 4 letter to the US Department of Commerce that a late-June decision making two producers’ crude oil condensates eligible for export was wrong.

The decision by DOC’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)(OGJ Online June 30, 2014) to allow Pioneer Natural Resources and Enterprise Product Partners to export upgraded condensate as a petroleum product did not meet exceptions in the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, which banned US crude exports, a lobbyist representing Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy (CRUDE) said in the Sept. 4 letter.

CRUDE asked DOC to reexamine the decisions and announce there would not be similar rulings in the future, Jeffrey J. Peck, principal at Peck Madigan Jones, said in the letter to three DOC officials.

“CRUDE’s depiction of the BIS actions inexplicably mischaracterizes the relevant facts of the decisions, while ignoring the broader benefits of the decisions to US national security and the economy,” IPAA said in a Sept. 8 statement.

“Contrary to CRUDE’s assertions, BIS did not create any ‘exceptions or exemptions’ from the regulations that govern the export of crude oil,” it said. “BIS simply applied the existing regulations to two specific factual situations—an action that is fully within BIS’s authority and responsibility. In fact, BIS makes such commodity classification decisions regularly under [federal Export Administration Regulations].”

By ignoring the fact that there are no limits on US refined product exports, CRUDE’s real complaint about the BIS classification decisions is that producers have an alternative means to process crude and sell the resulting products outside the US, IPAA stated.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].