
A refinery operated by Alon USA Energy in Big Spring, Texas. Alon is one of four US refiners that have formed a lobby to oppose major oil companies that want the ban on the export of US crude oil repealed. (Lorne Matalon)
originally published by the public media reporting collaborative Inside Energy
also broadcast on the Texas Standard, a state-wide daily news program led by NPR member station KUT-Austin—another version aired on KPBS-San Diego
MIDLAND, Texas — The price of a barrel of U.S. crude oil has plummeted by more than 50 percent since June 2014. U.S. producers claim that they’re at a competitive disadvantage because they’re restricted to selling their oil domestically at a time when they desperately need new markets to sell their mounting inventories.
Congress is now debating whether or not to lift the 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports that was made in the name of protecting national energy security.
Legislation to lift the ban has passed in the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Banking Committee will attempt to craft its version shortly.
The debate is hardly cut and dried because some of the major players in the American energy sector oppose the idea.