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Dear Mr. President: Let’s lift export ban Murkowski urges president to clear way for shipping out US crude oil; LNG and pipeline projects also need action, she says Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is now taking her recommendation to the very top.
The Alaska Republican sent a letter to President Obama urging him to lift the ban on exporting domestic crude oil.
Murkowski, in her Jan. 14 missive, also touched on other energy matters she believes need attention.
Murkowski is the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Majority Democrats control the committee.
Lifting the export ban was part of a Jan. 7 speech Murkowski gave at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank. She warned of a coming oil glut that could crimp the nation’s crude production.
Export reforms sought With her letter to Obama, Murkowski enclosed a copy of her speech as well as her white paper outlining her ideas on reforming energy export policy.
“In particular, I would draw your attention to the status of our nation’s hydrocarbon trade,” Murkowski wrote the president. “While exports of our natural gas and petroleum products have grown, our work is far from finished, and our policies are, in some cases, far from adequate.”
The letter continued: “Despite the obvious geopolitical, economic, and environmental benefits of building out our nation’s (natural gas) liquefaction capacity as soon as possible, the Department of Energy continues to slow-walk its approval of export licenses to our allies. The Keystone XL pipeline, which the State Department estimated would support over 42,000 jobs, remains unapproved even after years of delay. I once again urge you to take immediate action on these infrastructure projects, which you have generally promised to champion.”
Administration might agree Obama’s energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, has suggested it might be time to reconsider the oil export ban, in place since the 1970s when the Arab oil embargo shocked the nation.
Support for removal of the export ban, however, faces considerable opposition from some members of Congress, as well as some refinery operators.
The ban generally precludes oil exports, though there are exceptions including one that applies to oil from Alaska’s Cook Inlet and North Slope.
“The necessity of lifting the prohibition on crude oil exports ... presents us with a rare opportunity to work together in a bipartisan fashion to address this situation before it becomes a problem,” Murkowski wrote Obama. “Lifting the ban will help create jobs, boost the economy, and keep our production at record levels.”
She added: “While I believe you retain the executive authority necessary to lift the ban on crude oil exports, if you need legislative support from the Congress in order to do so, you will always have a willing partner from Alaska.”
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