II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1996 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES November 10, 2005 Mr. Kohl introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Energy to temporarily prohibit the exportation of a finished petroleum product or liquefied petroleum gas from the United States if the Secretary determines that the supply of the product or gas in any Petroleum Allocation Defense District has fallen or will fall below expected demand.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Stop Heating Oil Exports Act of 2005.

2.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)according to the Energy Information Administration, households heated primarily with heating oil can expect to pay an average increase of $378, or 32 percent more than last year, to heat their homes; (2)households relying on propane can expect to pay, on average, $325 more this winter; (3)the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects a 3.2-percent colder winter than last year, and if colder weather prevails, home heating expenditures will be significantly higher; (4)high home heating prices will disproportionately impact moderate- and low-income families; (5)in October 2000, the Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, successfully worked with major refiners to temporarily halt heating oil exports, to ensure adequate supplies of home heating oil for the winter; (6)between January and August 2005, refiners in the United States have exported more than 48,000,000 barrels, or 2,000,000,000 gallons, of product that could be used for home heating; and (7)at a time when consumers in the United States can expect nearly double their home heating costs in 2004, refiners in the United States should not be diminishing the supply by exporting home heating products.

3.

Authority to temporarily prohibit export of certain petroleum products

If the Secretary of Energy determines that the supply of a finished petroleum product or liquefied petroleum gas in any of the 5 Petroleum Allocation Defense Districts has fallen or will fall below expected demand for the product or gas, the Secretary may temporarily prohibit the exportation of the product or gas from the United States.