admin
Republican lawmakers announced late Tuesday a measure allowing American oil exports for the first time in four decades.
The measure still needs to go through further proceedings in the US.
Nevertheless, it could trigger further plunges in an already volatile oil market.
“We’ve the best technology, the best oil and over time we will drive out Russian oil, we will drive out Saudi, Iranian,” Republican Representative Joe Barton of Texas told Bloomberg.
“It puts the United States in the driver’s seat of energy policy worldwide. It is a huge victory,” he added.
The announcement comes as oil prices have plunged to the lowest lows since 2008. The WTI was trading one percent lower at $37.02 per barrel yesterday. Brent was down almost three percent at $37.37 a barrel.
Low oil prices have increased the urgency for Congress to lift the ban, according to John Hess, chief executive of American oil company Hess Corporation.
“It would be a function of market conditions,” Hess was cited as saying by the Wall Street Journal, as reported by RT. “But I think over time, definitely; if the market signals were there, we would have that option,” he added.
The Democrats are yet to confirm the move. Both the House and Senate still must pass it and President Barack Obama must sign it into law.
For about two years, US oil producers have been lobbying Congress to lift the ban on oil exports, claiming it would eliminate market distortions and stimulate the US economy, Bloomberg reported.
The crude export restrictions were introduced in the US in 1975 in the middle of the energy crisis. They followed Opec’s oil embargo on the US and other countries backing Israel during the Arab–Israeli war of 1973.
In the face of embargo-related high oil prices, Washington eased limits on oil imports and ordered an export ban.— Bloomberg.
Online Reporter