Oil producers band together to lobby for an end to 40-year-old ban on crude exports

A group of 14 oil producers are lobbying the federal government "to reverse the 40-year-old ban on U.S. crude exports, a move that supporters say would create jobs and keep the energy boom alive," Timothy Gardner reports for Reuters.

"Producers for American Crude Oil Exports, or PACE, is the first lobbying group to form to reverse the trade restriction passed by Congress in the 1970s after the Arab oil embargo caused fears of domestic oil shortages," Gardner writes. "As the U.S. oil boom of the last six years builds an excess of crude, calls have risen for Congress and the Obama administration to relax the ban."

Daren Beaudo, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips, one of the member companies, told Reuters that the groups have "united to create an advocacy initiative to help repeal the outdated ban on crude oil exports." He said the ability to export crude is "vital to the country’s economic growth and national security, job creation and strengthening our competitive position in the global marketplace."

Last week the U.S. Government Accountability Office "issued a report that concluded domestic consumers could save on gasoline bills if the ban was lifted because it would bring more oil to global markets, where fuel is priced," Gardner writes. "It was the latest in a string of reports to reach a similar conclusion." 

The main opposition for exports comes from four oil refiners called Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy, or CRUDE, "who want to keep the ban in place, saying that exports could add costs to their processing," Gardner writes. (Read more)