Sen. Lisa Murkowski wants to end ban on crude oil exports

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ak., called for ending the federal ban on crude oil exports Tuesday, saying that current regulations were designed in an era of "scarcity" and that maintaining them would stifle domestic production.

 

"The current system is inefficient and may lead to supply disruptions that we can ill afford," she said during a speech at the Brookings Institution. "Lifting the ban will send a strong signal to the energy markets that as a nation we're serious, we are serious as a country, about our emerging role as a major hydrocarbon producer."

 

The comments come as debate is heating up over the four-decade-old export ban, as repeal advocates argue the U.S. should ship some of its booming production abroad.

 

The oil industry has begun pushing to end the ban, noting that the International Energy Agency has predicted U.S. will become the world's top oil producer by next year. And Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said last month that the policy could use another look.