Top officials from 13 US oil and gas associations and three non-energy national business groups called on US House leaders to support HR 702, a bill that would end the 40-year ban on exporting US-produced crude oil, when it comes to a floor vote on Oct. 9.
“The oil export ban is a relic of the 1970s,” they said in an Oct. 6 letter to Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Ranking Minority Member Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “In light of the US energy boom, maintaining our self-imposed restraint hinders the US economy from realizing the benefits that could come from being a key energy supplier to the world.”
Leaders from the American Petroleum Institute, Independent Petroleum Association of America, and 14 other trade organizations noted that the US is the world’s only major oil producing country that restricts its crude exports.
“Lifting the ban will offer our global allies and trading partners an alternative source of energy, shrink global dependence on oil sourced from hostile regimes, and put America on [a] level footing with other producing nations,” they said.
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