Uncategorized ·oil exports

House overturns the 40-year-old ban on oil exports

BYReuters
October 12, 2015, 1:29 PM UTC
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CULVER CITY, CA - APRIL 25: Oil rigs extract petroleum as the price of crude oil rises to nearly $120 per barrel, prompting oil companies to reopen numerous wells across the nation that were considered tapped out and unprofitable decades ago when oil sold for one-fifth the price or less, on April 25, 2008 in the Los Angeles area community of Culver City, California. Many of the old unprofitable wells, known as "stripper wells", are located in urban areas where home owners are often outraged by the noise, smell, and possible environmental hazards associated with living so close to renewed oil drilling. Since homeowners usually do not own the mineral rights under their land, oil firms can drill at an angle to go under homes regardless of the desires of residents. Using expensive new technology and drilling techniques, California producers have reversed a long decline of about 5 percent annually with an increased crude flow of about 2 1/2 million barrels in 2007 for the first time in years. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Photograph by David McNew—Getty Images

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Friday to overturn the 40-year-old ban on oil exports, but the measure did not get enough support to overturn any veto by President Barack Obama, and similar legislation in the Senate faces an uphill battle.

The House bill sponsored by Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, passed the House 261 to 159, failing to reach the 280 votes necessary to overturn a presidential veto. The White House last week threatened to veto the House bill, saying Congress should work to move the country to cleaner sources of energy.

The Congressional Budget Office said recently that lifting the ban on U.S. crude exports could push the price of domestic oil up roughly $2.50 a barrel in the coming decade.

“CBO estimates that authorizing exports of domestically produced crude oil without restrictions would increase wellhead prices of light oil by an average of roughly $2.50 per barrel over the 2016-2025 period, on an expected value basis,” the report said.