PACE survey finds 69% support for crude exports to trading partners

Feb. 11, 2015
More than two thirds of registered voters responding in a nationwide telephone survey commissioned by Producers for American Crude Exports (PACE) supported allowing US producers to sell crude to customers in countries that have a trading agreement with the US.

More than two thirds of registered voters responding in a nationwide telephone survey commissioned by Producers for American Crude Exports (PACE) supported allowing US producers to sell crude to customers in countries that have a trading agreement with the US.

The Feb. 2-5 poll of 1,025 voters by Washington, DC-based FTI Consulting found 69% favored such exports while 31% said the federal government should mandate that crude produced in the US be sold exclusively to US customers, PACE said as it released the survey on Feb. 10.

US crude exports were banned after the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo disrupted supplies. They presently are restricted to crude from beneath state waters in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, Alaskan North Slope crude, certain US-produced crude destined for Canada, shipments to US territories, and California crude sold to customers in Pacific Rim countries, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

“There is a growing consensus of research from think tanks, universities, and government agencies that have studied this issue,” PACE Executive Director George Baker said as the survey was released. “Each has determined that crude oil exports will grow the economy and provide broad-based consumer benefits.”

He said, “This survey demonstrates that a significant majority of voters also believe the economy and consumers would benefit and America’s strategic position in the world would be strengthened if US oil producers were permitted to sell crude oil to customers in countries [which] are trading partners.”

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].