[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]House Agriculture Committee hears testimony on lifting the ban on U.S. crude oil exports[/title][fusion_text]Thursday, July 9th 2015
The House Agriculture Committee heard testimony Wednesday that lifting the ban on U.S. crude oil exports would benefit rural areas, including creating more jobs and potentially lowering gasoline prices. Congress passed legislation restricting crude oil exports in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo and the recession it triggered. Technological advances in recent years, however, have contributed to increasing U.S. production, allowing a possible surplus for export. In May, Conaway and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, introduced the Energy Supply and Distribution Act (H.R. 2369), which would lift the ban. The measure is a companion bill to legislation introduced by Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in the Senate. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report published in September, removing export restrictions would increase domestic production – which was 8 million barrels per day in April 2014 – because of increasing domestic crude oil prices. Estimates range from an additional 130,000 to 3.3 million barrels per day on average from 2015 through 2035, GAO stated. Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., the committee’s ranking member is co-sponsoring a separate bill (H.R. 702) that would lift export restrictions.
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