[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         LIFT THE CRUDE OIL BAN

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 2015

  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, new technologies have ushered in an 
American energy revolution. Last year, the U.S. overtook Russia and 
Saudi Arabia to become the largest crude oil producer in the world.
  We now have more oil than we can refine or store. A majority of U.S. 
refineries are built to handle heavy, sour crude but new oil production 
is light, sweet crude. U.S. refiners simply can't keep up with the new 
production.
  Normally producers could simply pump oil into storage containers. But 
experts say those storage tanks could fill up before the end of this 
month.
  Instead of exporting excess oil like producers get to do in other 
countries, the ban is already forcing U.S. oil producers to leave oil 
in the ground and lay off workers.
  About 50% of the working rigs in my home state of Texas have had to 
shut down in the last 6 months. Over 70,000 people have been laid off 
since Thanksgiving.
  The solution to this problem is clear: it is time for the crude oil 
ban to be lifted.
  Critics of lifting the ban are afraid that U.S. oil exports will lead 
to higher domestic gas prices. Fortunately, many studies have debunked 
this myth.
  Gas prices are more closely linked to the international market--or 
Brent price--than the domestic price of crude because refined products 
like gasoline are traded freely on the international market. So the 
more crude oil we can put on the international market, the lower the 
international price of crude oil. The lower the international price of 
crude oil, the lower the price of gas for Americans.
  A Rice University study released in March 2015 reviewed previous 
studies that examined the impact of removing the ban on gas prices. 
They found that ``all studies underscore that lifting the export ban 
will not translate into higher gasoline prices. In fact, studies 
generally project gasoline prices in the U.S. will fall once the ban is 
lifted.''
  U.S. crude entering the global market will increase the international 
oil supply and decrease the price of gas.
  The only thing the studies do not agree on is just how much gas 
prices will drop. Savings could range from 1.8 to 12 cents per gallon 
at the pump.
  Lifting the ban will also lead to more jobs and a higher GDP.
  An IHS study predicts crude oil exports would support nearly 300,000 
jobs by 2018. Removing the export ban would add $26 billion to GDP per 
year and improve labor income by about $158 per year, on average.
  As it improves the U.S. economy, removing the ban will also improve 
our national security.
  The original purpose of the ban put in place back in 1973 was to 
insulate the United States from the volatility of the international oil 
market. Ironically, today the ban exposes the U.S. market to 
volatility. Because our gas prices are tied to the international price 
of crude, if there is a disruption in the international supply, that 
directly affects our gas prices. The more crude oil we can put on the 
market, the more we can minimize those disruptions. Even 1 million 
barrels of swing capacity matters a lot in the world.
  So if ISIS continues to wreak havoc and disrupts oil supply in places 
like Libya and Iraq, having more U.S. crude oil on the market would 
help prevent a spike in the price of crude oil and gas prices.
  Lifting the ban would also free us up to help our allies more. Europe 
gets 40% of its oil from Russia. Exporting crude oil would give the 
Europeans an alternative to having to depend on Russia.
  It would also increase our influence in Asia. Japan and South Korea 
partly rely on crude oil from Iran to satisfy their growing energy 
consumption. U.S. exports can help diminish that reliance.
  Ironically, with the so-called deal with Iran it is now U.S. 
government policy to allow Iran to export crude oil and inject billions 
of dollars into their own economy. At the same time it is still U.S. 
government policy to prohibit U.S. producers from doing the same.
  U.S. exports offer a stable source of energy to our allies and 
decrease their reliance on dictators and state sponsors of terror.
  Lifting the ban shows that the U.S. is serious about supporting free 
market rules around the world. We criticize China for not exporting 
rare earth minerals and yet here we are not exporting crude oil. 
Removing the ban will give us more credibility when we criticize other 
nations' export bans.
  All in all, it is high time we remove the crude oil export ban. 
Exporting U.S. crude will lower gas prices, increase American jobs, and 
strengthen our national security.
  And that's just the way it is.

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