Everybody Talks (Crude): Canary Compiles Only For-and-Against List of its Kind on Crude Oil Export Ban

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham

D-NM

"New Mexico families are still struggling, and I believe that lifting the ban on crude oil exports, increasing investments in renewable energy resources, and adopting clean energy protections are all an important part of increasing economic growth and creating jobs for New Mexican families."

Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board

"In a changing energy world, where the United States is transitioning to an all-of-the-above energy strategy, does it make any sense to remain bound by a 40-year-old oil export ban because you don't approve of fossil fuels?... Of course not. That's not optimizing current fuel sources to move further toward renewables and cleaner energy; that's standing still with no path forward."

Sen. Mark Kirk

R-IL

"With Iran preparing to flood the global market with oil once sanctions are lifted, and our allies dependent on hostile powers for oil, it makes no sense to block US oil exports any longer... It is time to end this outdated, self-imposed ban that puts us at a disadvantage in the global economy."

Brigham A. McCown

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Nouveau Inc.; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure

"We live in an age where positioning the United States as the global leader in meeting and supplying energy demands has not only become a priority; but almost a reality. What many Americans may be surprised to find is that it is our own government's outdated policies keeping this development just out of reach ... If we are to harness America's energy capabilities and secure our position as a global energy leader, policy must be adopted that reflects our current energy renaissance. And to do this, we must repeal America's self-inflicted ban on crude oil exports."

Sydney Jim

President and Chief Executive Officer, First Titan Energy, LLC

"Lifting the ban would greatly help smaller companies like ours because it would give us an expanded marketplace for our oil... Right now, we're limited in what we can do. With the ban gone, we could easily move oil to places more willing to pay a fair price. Free trade is always good business. The domestic oil and gas industry needs this legislation — it would go a long way to easing the current slump and making us more competitive, as well as greatly aiding our revenue stream."

Dan Haley

President and Chief Executive Officer, Colorado Oil & Gas Association

"Approval of the nuclear deal with Iran will lift oil trade sanctions on that country, allowing it to add an expected 1 million barrels per day onto the international market. However, the United States will remain shackled by its own, self-imposed oil trade sanctions... It is time Congress and the Obama administration provide our country the same opportunities to export domestic crude that they're set to give Iran."

Dave Galt

Executive Director, Montana Petroleum Association

"It gives the US an opportunity to be an international leader in energy policy."

Rep. Bradley Byrne

R-AL

"Unfortunately, President Barack Obama is opposed to Congress lifting the crude oil export ban because he believes the decision should be left up to the federal Department of Commerce. In other words, the Obama Administration would rather an unelected federal agency make the decision instead of the democratically-elected Congress. By standing in the way, President Obama is tying our hands both domestically and around the globe... I call on President Obama to reconsider his veto threat and to look at the clear economic and national security benefits of repealing the oil export ban. It is critically important that America once again lead on the world stage."

Richmond Times-Dispatch

"It's time to lift economic sanctions — against America ... U.S. law forbids the export of crude oil, as it has since the 1970s ... The president stridently insists failure to pass the Iran deal means catastrophe. But the administration has shown zero interest in giving America the same freedom of commerce it wants to give Iran ... If a policy is good enough for Iran, why isn't it good enough for America?"

John M. Deutch

Professor of Chemistry, MIT; Member, National Petroleum Council; former Undersecretary, Energy Department, Carter Administration

"With US oil production on a long-term uptick, the long-standing ban on direct exports of crude should be abolished... Let's hope the export ban is lifted with broad bipartisan support. The result will increase US jobs and increase the country's influence in world oil markets, with little risk of higher gasoline prices for consumers."

Kenneth A. Hersh

Chief Executive Officer, NGP Energy Capital Management

"America's ban on crude oil exports defies logic and is stuck in the past... We have a natural resources endowment that has truly changed our economy, enhanced our manufacturing competitiveness and liberated our foreign policy - why restrict it? Smart choices supporting a freer market today will be felt for a generation."

Daniel Simmons

Vice President for Policy, Institute for Energy Research

"The ban on exporting oil... was kept in place for decades because it appeared that US production would only fall and consumption would only increase. Reality has proven far different... It's time to end this 40-year-old experiment of banning our own potential exports. The [United States] does not ban the export of corn, or wheat, or coal, or Boeing airplanes, and there is no good reason to ban the export of oil."

Dr. Francesco Stipo

Director, The United States Association of the Club of Rome; Member, Bretton Woods Committee; International Lawyer

"The export ban was justified in the '70s by the reduction of reserves and the excessive price of oil, but today, such factors no longer exist. This month, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark plunged to $40 per barrel and reserves reached a record high. If the oil export ban is lifted, Europe will likely become a major importer of American oil. New oil and gas projects will look at Europe as the new frontier for US energy exports."

Keith Pekau

Illinois State Director, Vets4Energy; retired United States Air Force Captain

"There is nothing better than to have more control internally, and we need to be self-sufficient with our own energy needs... If we can provide our own supply, completely provide our own supply, we don't have to be dependent on foreign oil and then we can be exporting, and that puts more pressure on bad actors in the world... We talk about the likes of foreign policy being diplomacy, economics and military... I think there is actually a fourth leg, which is energy. Actually, I think it should be independent of the other ones, even though they are intertwined."

The Daily Advertiser, Lafayette

"The proposed international treaty with Iran, recently negotiated by the Obama administration, would enable that hostile nation to put additional oil on the market — a million barrels a day, Iran says; much more eventually, some market observers suggest... But what about the US and its oil industry? ... Should the US help free up the Iranian oil industry but continue to restrain the US oil industry? Of course not."

Erin Roth

American Petroleum Council–Minnesota

"Allowing Iran access to the global marketplace while denying American companies and our own economy the same opportunity makes no sense. Bipartisan legislation is advancing in both House and Senate to lift the outdated crude export ban, and passing it should be a top priority in Congress. The United States is a global energy superpower, and our energy producers should not be placed at a competitive disadvantage to other oil-producing nations."

Dan Kish

Senior Vice President–Policy, Institute for Energy Research

"Artificial government impediments to rational free enterprise never work... If the US banned Boeing from selling airplanes overseas, would anyone argue that air travel would be cheaper in America?"

Lynn Westfall

Director, Energy Information Administration

"[Liberalizing crude exports] won't do any harm, and could even do a little bit of good."

Rep. Garret Graves

R-LA

"America can compete and win on a level playing field. Energy production in the US has grown dramatically since this restriction was first put in place 40 years ago, and lifting the ban will help unlock our potential."

Vance Ginn, PhD

Economist, Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation

"For our country to benefit from the colossal energy wealth now at our fingertips, the ban on oil exports must be repealed."

Sen. Michael Bennet

D-CO

"[I back oil exports] in the context of being able to move us to a more secure energy environment in the United States (and) a cleaner energy environment in the United States, yes... [A move to lift the 40-year-old ban on crude exports] would have to be of a more comprehensive plan that includes steps to address climate change and give the country and the world a more sustainable future."

Sen. Harry Reid

D-NV

"We should sit down and try to work something out with the people who are so focused on exporting it and those people who are so focused on not exporting it and come up with a deal."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy

R-CA; House Majority Leader

"If there was ever a time to lift the oil export ban, it's now... Lifting the oil export ban will not only help our economy, it will also bolster our geopolitical standing."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

Joseph McMonigle

Senior Energy Analyst, Potomac Research Group; President, The Abraham Group

"It's indefensible to keep the US export ban in place, while we are lifting the Iranian crude export ban."

Rep. Bob Goodlatte

R-VA

"The United States should update our energy policy to encourage new economic growth and job creation here at home. That's why I have signed on as a cosponsor of HR2369, the Energy Supply and Distribution Act. This bipartisan legislation would remove the ban on crude-oil exports...[and] would help us better compete in the global economy and strengthen relationships with our allies. It is important that we get the federal government out of the way and let America prosper."

Michael Lynch

Contributor, Forbes; President and Director of Global Petroleum Service, Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. (SEER)

"The crude oil export ban... is only defensible if one is blatantly partisan and/or anti-industry, to say nothing of economically ignorant. Sadly, this describes a number of people in Congress."

Ray Hagerman

Chief Executive Officer, Four Corners Economic Development

"We would support lifting of the oil export ban."

John Fredericks

Political News Radio Host, Virginia

"What kind of world do we live in, where America's leaders try to give Iran better international trading terms than we provide our own petroleum producers? ... We are poised to lift economic sanctions and allow an enemy whose leaders chant "death for America" to enrich its economy by exporting oil — its only valuable natural resource... At the same time, we maintain a 40-year-old ban on exporting our own domestic crude oil, to the detriment of our oil industry and economy. This is backwards, and the irony would be laughable if it weren't so sad."

Sherman McCorkie

Vice Chair — Business Advocacy State/Federal Government, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sandia Science and Technology Park

"As we enter this era of energy abundance, which experts predict will last decades, policymakers in Washington, DC, are preparing to vote this autumn to update our nation's energy laws... While the US currently exports refined petroleum products such as gasoline, we are the only major global oil producer that prohibits the export of crude oil. Changing this policy will have broad economic benefits and allow us to fully embrace our role as an energy superpower."

Craig Mayberry

Manager, Process Equipment Service Co. (PESCO)

"We in New Mexico have long understood the importance of oil and natural gas production. Oil and gas revenues make up over 31% of our state's general fund and the industry provides jobs to over 69,000 people. The best way to protect these jobs and support increased growth is to end the oil export ban and let producers here in New Mexico and across the country compete on the global market."

John Peterson

Former Senator and Representative, R-PA

"Lifting the ban on crude oil exports is not going to put refiners out of work and it will not increase gasoline prices... The marketplace is reaching a point where if we continue to prevent US producers from competing in the global market, and crude oil prices drop further, producers will stop producing and that hurts the small mom and pops in rural Pennsylvania more than anyone else."

US Energy Information Administration

"Petroleum prices in the United States, including gasoline prices, would be either unchanged or slightly reduced by the removal of current restrictions on crude-oil exports."

Rep. Joaquin Castro

D-TX

"Swapping Mexican heavy crude with light sweet crude from the US will better integrate our energy sectors and deepen our economic relationship... While this is a positive step, I will continue to advocate for easing all US crude oil export restrictions to Mexico in the same way that American crude oil is exported to Canada."

Corpus Christi Caller Times

"Clinging to [the outdated export ban] as our government has persisted in doing will not save the world from warming itself to death. Developing nations turn to dirtier energy options because we don't fill their needs. Oil counts as an alternative energy source if the other option is coal or wood."

Frank Spooner

Chief Executive Officer, Mark V Petroleum

"We need to be able to move [crude oil] around."

Las Vegas Review-Journal

"Speaker Boehner says our nation's energy policy has been rooted in a 'scarcity mindset' since the 1970s, and he's right: Oil isn't as hard to find as it once was. The United States produces enough oil to share it with the rest of the world, and we need to reap the economic benefits... The first step is to stop banning ourselves from selling it."

Rep. Ken Buck

R-CO

"By lifting the export ban on crude oil, Congress has an opportunity to encourage job creation in the private sector, bolster national security, and reduce the cost of a critical commodity for consumers. Americans take pride in our domestic products and we have worked hard to open global markets - except for crude oil. That must change... Congress and the president should act to correct this flawed policy that hurts the safety and finances of Americans. With a common sense change, we can give the United States a powerful tool to guarantee global stability and security, and to make sure that the economic growth in the energy sector continues to provide valuable jobs to hardworking Americans."

Steve H. Hanke

Professor—Applied Economics, and Co-Director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise, Johns Hopkins University; Senior Fellow and Director—Troubled Currencies Project, Cato Institute

"The [crude oil export] ban should have never been put in in the first place ... [Getting] rid of it... makes the whole energy sector in the US much more efficient and running based on market principles."

Detlef R. Hallermann

Clinical Associate Professor, Texas A&M University

"[Lifting the crude oil export ban] is something that definitely addresses an economic inefficiency in the market, that oil can go someplace else and get a higher value then staying here in the United States."

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter

R-ID

"Quite frankly, I think [the US crude oil export ban] is a mistake... If we could produce everything we are capable of producing, claims by certain federal government agencies not withstanding on how many licenses and how many permits they will issue and all that kind of stuff, we would produce a hell of a lot more crude than we could possible process."

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

R-TX

"We still want to take all restrictions off of us being able to export our products from Texas, and yes, there's a ban on crude oil; there's not the same type of restrictions on natural gas, but there's still restrictions."

Potomac Research Group

"In light of the Iran deal, the policy and politics of keeping the US crude export ban in place will be difficult to defend... How can the US government approve lifting a ban on Iranian crude exports, but not a ban on US crude exports?"

Kirk Kinnear

Vice President, Crude Logistics and Hedging, Continental Resources

"The fact remains that renewables still only account for less than 10% of the world's energy needs. The more immediate challenge to the human race is building a cleaner path to meet the other 90% of global demand. Policies that keep cleaner domestic crude oil in the ground while encouraging production of dirtier, high-sulfur foreign crude undermine CO2 reduction efforts."

Jonathan Nelson

Contributor, Economics21

"It is time to give American oil companies the same rights as their Iranian counterparts—the right to export."

Sen. Mike Lee

R-UT

"The current restrictions that we have in place put enormous inefficiency in the market... And those inefficiencies create price fluctuations and price increases, not only on gasoline but on all other kinds of products that include petroleum in their development."

Rep. John Boehner

R-OH; Speaker of the House of Representatives

"Lifting the ban would create an estimated 1 million jobs here at home, jobs that would frankly get created in every state. It would help bring down prices at the pump for consumers, and it will be good for our allies... If the administration wants to lift the ban for Iran, certainly the United States should not be the only country left in the world with such a ban in place."

Randall B. Luthi

President, National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA)

"The outdated ban on oil exports is locking the US out of world markets and hampering both the health of our domestic energy industry as well as America's economic growth... Preventing American oil from being traded on international markets also means higher gasoline prices for US consumers."

Donald J. Boudreaux

Senior Fellow, Mercatus Center; Professor of Economics, George Mason University

"If unfettered commerce in oil is fine for Iran, then why not for America? Fortunately, a bipartisan group of legislators is pushing to end this harmful restriction. They shouldn't waste any time. Selling American crude on the international market would boost domestic production while spurring economic growth at home and around the world."

Judy Stark

Executive Vice President, Panhandle Property & Royalty Owners Association

"We are now the world leader in oil and gas production... We've never been in that position... [If the US could export oil,] drilling rigs would start back up, jobs (would) start back up... I believe it's like $23 billion (per) year in increased revenue to the United States by lifting the ban."

The Detroit News

"The changing energy landscape and booming oil production throughout the US over the past decade has rendered some major elements of the country's energy policy - including the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports - outdated... Lifting the ban would increase domestic oil production, allow the US to infiltrate the global market with its bountiful supply, and thus push gasoline prices further downward - good news for US consumers... Lawmakers should press to get rid of this outdated ban and allow the freer flow of such a crucial commodity."

Isaac Orr

Research Fellow, The Heartland Institute

"Mr. President, you have a phone call... It's the 1970s calling, and they want their crude oil export ban back... The US Environmental Protection Agency recently released its long-awaited report on hydraulic fracturing and found it has "not led to widespread, systemic pollution of drinking water." This is great news for our energy future. Now, Mr. President, let's lift that export ban. It's time to get frackin'."

Rob Lindberg

Director, The Bakken Backers

"When it comes to what are likely the world's two most precious commodities, the United States is the largest producer of one and the largest exporter of the other... Of course, these two commodities are energy and agricultural products. Both could be traded globally to the betterment of the American foreign policy and economy... When we produce more for ourselves and our allies, oil prices react less to international conflict... In short, lifting the ban promises to benefit America for decades to come. What a wonderful opportunity we have found."

Jim Paxton

Publisher, The Paducah Sun

"We think the oil export ban is archaic. US oil exports could, it appears to us, improve the US balance of trade, add jobs here at home and have little impact on domestic prices. We hope the Senate legislation meets with success."

Sen. Richard Shelby

R-AL

"Approximately forty years ago, Congress imposed the oil export ban as part of a comprehensive set of price and export controls on a variety of industries... We learned in subsequent years that such anti-competitive policies hampered job creation and harmed American consumers... Despite long-outliving its purpose, the ban on the export of crude oil remains in place today, with only a few exceptions."

Rick Muncrief

President and Chief Executive Officer, WPX Energy

"We believe strongly that American energy companies should have the opportunity to compete in global markets — just as thousands of other companies do in every other sector of our economy... The current policy handicaps American companies and consumers by limiting markets and stifling opportunities."

Nicolette Nye

Vice President, Communications and Industry Affairs, National Ocean Industries Association

"The export ban isn't just unhelpful, it's actually doing damage to the economy, consumers and to national security. The good news is that momentum is building in Congress on legislation to lift the ban on US oil exports. Doing so would create jobs, enhance energy independence, strengthen national security, and would cost American taxpayers nothing."

Sen. Sherrod Brown

D-OH

"The crude oil export ban is a relic of price control policies of the past, which does not take into account the recent surge of domestic production that has led to a significant reduction in imported oil... This boom has, without a doubt, increased our nation's energy security—a goal long sought by Congress and previous Administrations."

Don Jones

President, Pioneer Oil

"Recent increases in oil and natural gas production in the United States have sparked conversations on whether it's finally time to lift the decades-old ban on crude oil exports... As a small-business owner who recently relocated to Southern Indiana from Illinois, I believe the answer is an unequivocal yes. Lifting this ban would directly or indirectly touch nearly every aspect of our economy and provide growth opportunities for small businesses across the nation."

Sen. Bob Corker

R-TX; Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

"[If the Iran deal passes,] we will then be the only country that we sanction against oil exports... I think it could build some momentum around the fact that we should look at our oil in a very different way."

Stephen C. Dodge

Executive Director, New England Petroleum Council

"We've transitioned from energy scarcity to abundance, and the ban on crude exports is clearly obsolete. And maintaining it does needless damage to our economy. It also undermines the security of allies around the world who are looking to the US for energy leadership... There's no longer any justification for keeping one of our most valuable commodities off the global market. Limiting crude oil exports only limits our economic potential and energy security. It's time to lift the ban."

Jon Callen

President, Edmiston Oil Company, Inc.

"The world's changed a lot the last forty years... The United States has become one of the largest producers of oil in the world and actually have oil stacking up that we can't always get rid of. And so it creates a problem for us trying to get the oil sold in the world market because we're not allowed to."

Ike Brannon

Fellow, The 4% Growth Project, George W. Bush Institute; President, Capital Policy Analytics; former Chief Economist, House Energy and Commerce Committee

"The oil export ban isn't simply a harmless vestige of past policies: It imposes a significant cost to the economy in lost jobs and slower economic growth, constraints we can scarcely afford at the present time. While it may be difficult for voters to understand precisely how the oil export ban harms the economy, there's no question that this is precisely what it does - while creating few winners in the process. It's the job of our politicians to explain this fact and then repeal the ban."

Kathleen Hartnett White

Distinguished Senior Fellow-in-Residence and Director, Armstrong Center for Energy & the Environment, Texas Public Policy Foundation; former Chairman and Commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

"Market dynamics triumphed in the first stage of the shale revolution by creating a formidable supply. U.S. producers now need access to the demand side. This global market, however, remains walled off to American producers by the outdated ban on exporting crude oil... The US shale industry remains poised to take advantage of the economic opportunities at hand. Our national leadership's embrace of this energy opportunity would extend its benefits across the country. Lifting the export ban on our crude oil should be an overarching national priority."

J. Michael Vess

Chairman and Managing Owner, Vess Oil

"The concern that we have is if the United States doesn't allow the export of crude oil that light sweet crude is going to build up and build up and it's not going to have a marketable home here in the United States. And consequently it's going to drive prices down but that's going to come back to the activity... We'd really like to find markets for this crude that keeps the price at a balanced level. But it also gives and incentive to continue to develop the resources here and maintain that independence."

Rep. Mike Pompeo

R-KS

"Most analysis shows that lifting the crude oil export ban will not only create jobs, but that gasoline prices for consumers here in the United States will not be impacted. America will soon be the largest producer of crude oil in the world - we should continue to innovate and dominate and create wealth for Kansans by allowing crude oil to be freely traded all around the world."

Terry Duffy

Executive Chairman and President, CME Group

"In the 1970s, the US government imposed a ban on the export of crude oil that put our nation's energy producers at a competitive disadvantage and harmed market efficiency... The good news is that Congress and the Administration have the tools to fix this and we are encouraged by the growing bipartisan support to repeal this outdated policy. I applaud Chairman Conaway and Ranking Member Peterson, and urge Congress and the Administration to repeal the ban on crude oil exports and let the market decide."

Kari Cutting

Vice President, North Dakota Petroleum Council

"The US government should lift the ban on crude oil exports and allow oil produced in places like North Dakota to reach global markets. Lifting the ban on crude oil exports would immediately restore our competitiveness and revive the renaissance in rural America. Not only would rural America prosper, but all US citizens would benefit from lifting the ban."

Oren Cass

Senior Fellow–Energy, the Environment, and Anti-Poverty Policy, Manhattan Institute

"Lift restrictions on the export of oil and natural gas. Studies consistently show that allowing exports would increase production, boost GDP, and lower prices for American consumers, while strengthening US influence in international markets."

Laborers' International Union of North America

"Opening global markets to US producers will support added domestic production that will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and contribute tens of billions of GDP dollars in the supply chain within the next few years... At the same time, we will put downward pressure on domestic fuel prices, while we provide our allies and trading partners with an alternative to sourcing energy from unfriendly and unstable sources."

(joint statement with International Union of Operating Engineers)

International Union of Operating Engineers

"Opening global markets to US producers will support added domestic production that will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and contribute tens of billions of GDP dollars in the supply chain within the next few years... At the same time, we will put downward pressure on domestic fuel prices, while we provide our allies and trading partners with an alternative to sourcing energy from unfriendly and unstable sources."

(joint statement with Laborers' International Union of North America)

Mike Howard

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Howard Energy Partners

"As the US has learned to extract these tight oil shales, our refineries are not necessarily set up to run this kind of product... As our refineries retool to a more domestic supply and other countries can benefit from our lean production, it goes to further make us independent as a country. So if exports can solve the problem of having to import so much heavy oil, it's a great story for us. It just makes us more politically independent and puts us in a better financial situation as a country."

Petr Gandalovič

Ambassador to the United States, Czech Republic

"The larger the number of stable democracies among the world exporters, the more robust the energy security of the Czech Republic and European Union will be. Moreover, US energy exports would send a strong signal to the world community that democracies stick together."

Dr. W. David Montgomery

Affiliated Consultant, NERA Economic Consulting

"Restrictions on oil exports reduce US GDP, slow down job growth and recovery from the recession, and cause higher gasoline prices."

Mark Kreinbihl

Group President, Gorman-Rupp Company

"So what can Congress do to help our business create jobs, both in our company and for our customers and our suppliers? Congress can help increase markets for American-produced crude oil by lifting the ban on crude oil exports."

Rep. Bobby Rush

D-IL

"[The ban] may in fact be outdated."

Rep. Adrian Smith

R-NE

"Exporting oil has potential economic benefits for Nebraska, including the ability to drive exploration... This ban has been in place since the 1970s, and we must ensure the law is updated to reflect modern realities, which would benefit our rural communities."

Rep. Collin Peterson

D-MN

"This simply makes sense as current export laws are outdated. In the nearly 40 years since laws governing the export of crude oil were last visited, the United States has significantly increased domestic oil production and is now the world's largest oil producer... Studies have shown that lifting the current ban on crude oil exports would create jobs, many in rural areas."

Don Stowers

Chief Editor, Oil & Gas Financial Journal

"Equilibrium between energy production and demand will continue to fluctuate as global economies alternately expand and contract. However, increased population generally means greater demand for energy, and hydrocarbons are still the fuel of choice by an overwhelming degree. That is not likely to change for many decades even if the US and other nations pour massive amounts of capital into developing and commercializing alternative energy sources... But even though there is an oversupply currently, there is no doubt that US producers would benefit from opening up new international markets to US crude oil."

Sen. Kel Seliger

R-TX

"We are sitting on top of massive reserves of crude oil, and for the first time in decades we have the advanced technology to extract it efficiently and economically. However, our producers are handcuffed by federal regulations banning the export of crude oil... That's why during the 84th Legislative Session I authored Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 13, which urges the US Congress and the president to recognize that crude oil exports and free trade are in our national interest and to end the ban on crude oil exports ... With so much at stake, it's time for our federal government to do what is right and end this outdated regulation. This industry deserves to participate in the world economy like so many other basic industries."

Bruce Everett

Adjunct Associate Professor of International Business, Tufts University; former ExxonMobil Executive

"As some in Congress push the President to lift the ban, he's facing friction from 13 senators in his own party, who sent him a letter two weeks ago urging him strongly to keep it in place... The senators offer six reasons for keeping the crude export ban in place, all of them wrong... Let me offer the President a proposed reply to the letter: "Dear Senators. Thank you for sharing your views. American consumers always benefit when the market, rather than the government, makes economic decisions. The crude export ban goes. Sincerely, Barack Obama."

Rep. Ed Whitfield

R-KY

"Americans believe in free trade, and we as a nation have greatly benefitted from policies that allow us to export our products around the world. Everyone from farmers to automakers enjoys the advantages of a global customer base. Unfortunately, 1970s-era restrictions still prohibit most exports of American crude oil. According to an estimate from IHS, lifting the export restrictions and allowing the market for American oil to extend beyond our own borders could create nearly a million additional jobs. Oil exports have the potential to be a jobs success story and a foreign policy success story too."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

David Flynn

Economics Professor, University of North Dakota

"I think the state of North Dakota stands to gain a lot from a lifting of the export ban... We'd see a significant push to improve infrastructure... We already allow the export of gasoline... the arguments are stronger now than they ever have been to get rid of this export ban."

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Repealing America's 1970s-era ban on oil exports is what its shale oil industry needs to continue thriving amid depressed global oil prices — and what US consumers need for lower gasoline prices to continue... The benefits for America's shale industry, consumers and the overall economy make repealing the export ban a no-brainer — and the opposition of too many congressional Democrats an outmoded relic."

Washington Examiner

"If you like paying less for gasoline, there is a clear path Obama and the new Congress can take to keep prices down. Simply remove government obstacles — including everything from slow permitting processes on pipelines to the existing ban on US oil exports — and it will immediately exert some amount of downward pressure on oil prices. Such actions can reduce shale producers' costs, expand their customer base, and make OPEC's goal of slowing down US production that much less realistic."

Longview News-Journal

"The Fed report says, though prices have been falling for six months, production has not slowed. In fact, more oil was produced per day this December than during the same month a year ago... But at some point — we don't know when and the Fed isn't predicting, either — the supply is going to grow so large or the price is going to drop so low that companies will slow or stop production... The situation could be alleviated to some degree if oil producers were given the ability to export crude oil, which has been largely banned since the first oil crisis in the 1970s."

Boston Herald

"US crude oil producers are questioning the wisdom of the near-total ban on exports and... are winning sympathy from Washington officials... It really is time to end the prohibition. It never made much sense except to allow politicians to argue that they had done something for American consumers."

Barry Russell

President and Chief Executive Officer, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA)

"To continue growing as an energy superpower, America must have policies that reflect modern energy markets, rather than policies based on a market that existed in the 1970s... By lifting the outdated exports ban, the United States would see more good-paying American jobs, reduced pressure on gasoline prices, increased investment in free trade, economic growth and a diminished need for imported foreign oil from volatile regions of the world, all while reducing the national trade deficit."

David H. Petraeus

Chairman, KKR Global Institute; former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

"To ensure that North America remains a leader in energy production, the president and Congress should approve the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Canada to the United States, allow for the export of domestically produced oil, and accelerate renewable-energy development by building a robust, high-voltage transmission infrastructure to transport electricity."

(joint statement with Paras D. Bhayani)

Paras D. Bhayani

Management Consultant

"To ensure that North America remains a leader in energy production, the president and Congress should approve the Keystone XL pipeline to carry oil from Canada to the United States, allow for the export of domestically produced oil, and accelerate renewable-energy development by building a robust, high-voltage transmission infrastructure to transport electricity."

(joint statement with David H. Petraeus)

Kimberly VanWyhe

Director of Energy Policy, American Action Forum

"In an effort to increase domestic production and support our allies abroad, the economic data argues for an end to the crude export control ban. Similarly, global power balance concerns support lifting the ban and loosening the stranglehold that hostile countries such as Russia have on large portions of Eastern Europe and others around the globe. Lifting the crude oil export ban and allowing market access in places that have been off limits for decades will create a flurry of production that will benefit both American consumers and the global oil market."

Chet Thompson

President, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM)

"We're not opposed to lifting the export ban, but we would like to think there could be a broader discussion [about all trade barriers in petroleum markets]."

Nelson Lee

Director - Crude Trading and Origination, Cheniere Energy, Inc.

"In response to why Cheniere Energy, Inc. is building a $550 million export terminal in Texas: "The reason why we're going ahead with that project is we think that we will have unfettered crude oil exports in US at some point, and there aren't the sort of logistics for the crude to exit the United States.""

Rory McMinn

President and Managing Director, Read & Stevens, Inc.

"Allowing US oil producers to compete for additional customers on the world market — just as we encourage producers of almost every other kind of product and service in this country to sell to foreign customers — will enable US producers to secure a more fair price for our oil set by the market rather than artificially constrained by an outdated oil export ban policy whose time long passed... We will get a higher price than the artificially discounted price we get today, but in accord with the laws of supply and demand, the increased supply of crude oil from the US will lower the world oil price and in so doing put downward pressure on the prices of refined petroleum products which are set by the international price of oil — in my view a win-win situation for US oil producers and US gasoline consumers."

Rep. Aumua Amata

R-American Samoa

"It is high-time that we lift this unnecessary, outdated and misguided ban, and move the United States forward into the 21st Century as the world leader in energy production and exports."

Michael J. Miller

President and Chief Executive Officer, Miller Energy Company

"Southwest Michigan is known for its strong manufacturing base, a base that provides many jobs in our communities. These types of supply-chain jobs are exactly the kind of jobs that will be added if Congress agrees to lift the ban on oil exports. Businesses, local governments and individuals across our district would directly benefit from American energy exports."

Rep. Steve Chabot

R-OH; Chairman, House Small Business Committee

"The untold story about this export ban is the negative impact that it has on the American people and small businesses... Those of us who lived through the seventies know there aren't many useful things from that decade still around today... So why are some clinging white-knuckled to a 1970's energy policy? Just like bellbottoms, some things are better left in the past."

Paul J. Gessing

President, Rio Grande Foundation

"New Mexico's oil producers could gain access to lucrative new markets with nothing more than a stroke of President Obama's pen... The arguments against exporting crude simply do not hold up under scrutiny. Even radical environmentalists should desire that scarce oil resources be put to their most efficient use. And, because of the disconnect between the grades of oil that are refined in the US relative to what is now being produced, the impact on American motorists in terms of higher prices would be minimal or non-existent... Free trade is a good thing for America. The oil and gas industries are no exceptions."

Michael E. Porter

Economist, Researcher, Author, Advisor, Speaker, and Teacher, Harvard Business School

"Lift the ban on crude oil exports to all WTO members."

(joint statement with David S. Gee and Gregory J. Pope)

David S. Gee

Partner and Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group

"Lift the ban on crude oil exports to all WTO members."

(joint statement with Michael E. Porter and Gregory J. Pope)

Gregory J. Pope

Principal, The Boston Consulting Group

"Lift the ban on crude oil exports to all WTO members."

(joint statement with Michael E. Porter and David S. Gee)

Richard Nephew

Program Director–Statecraft, Sanctions, and Energy Markets, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University

"[Lifting the export restrictions] would help us in our diplomacy."

Robert Manning

Resident Senior Fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, Atlantic Council

"There's a pretty compelling case for exporting oil ... And as a contributor to U.S. national security, making countries less reliant on Russia or the unstable Middle East is beneficial."

Jeff Navin

Partner, Boundary Stone Partners; Former Acting Chief of Staff, United States Department of Energy

"If the export ban is going to be lifted in whole or in part in the next 12 months, it's going to happen because of these national security arguments... The broader national security argument is predicated on the idea that countries putting their oil on the global market have an ability to influence the countries participating in those markets."

Tyler Morning Telegraph

Editorial Board

"Oil exports make perfect sense... With the restrictions in place, oil companies are pressured by simple economics to fund exploration and development in other countries. With the export ban lifted, those companies would inevitably do more in the US... There's even an environmental benefit. Crude oil produced here and sold on the world market is likely produced more cleanly than, say, crude from Russia."

Jude Clemente

Principal, JTC Energy Research Associates, LLC

"Anybody paying attention realizes the great economic benefits the US would enjoy with more crude oil exports..., while actually working to LOWER our gasoline prices. But, the US oil industry must also deploy the even more powerful moral imperative to export: in an energy deprived world, oil is the most important fuel, has no large-scale substitute, and is the principal energy source that allows undeveloped nations to become developed... For the US, exporting any source of energy that we can is a moral obligation, but exporting oil has a particular virtue since its the source that binds the world by allowing countries to become closer together."

Chris Lafakis

Senior Economist, Moody's Analytics

"The US shale revolution has created jobs, improved the balance of trade, spurred billions of dollars of both foreign and domestic investment, reduced carbon emissions, and lowered oil and gas prices. And from the shale gas fields in Williamsport to the refineries in the Philadelphia region, new energy technologies have had a profound local impact. This revolution could do even more if the United States allowed crude oil exports and expanded its pipeline system ... Lifting this ban would amplify the benefits of the energy revolution at little cost."

Matt Hickman

Managing Editor, Williston Herald

"There's one thing we haven't tried and that's pulling out of the Arab world completely... The key to setting this whole isolationist utopia in play is for Obama to support lifting the ban on oil exports immediately. There would be no shortage of support for it in both the House and the Senate... And if you're Obama, not only does repealing the export ban give you a permanent way to stay out of Middle Eastern politics, it helps cement your legacy."

Benjamin Zycher

John G. Searle Chair, Energy and Environmental Policy, American Enterprise Institute

"The export ban on crude oil was from the very beginning a deeply perverse policy implemented in a futile attempt to mitigate the perverse effects of other government policies. Ending the ban would be an important component of a larger reform agenda for this Congress."

Salem News

"US energy policy is the laughingstock of the world. It simply makes no sense. In part because it places so many barriers in the way of domestic oil production, it puts us at the mercy of countries such as those in OPEC, from which we continue to import huge quantities of oil... At one time there was a good reason to ban exports of US oil. No more. Times have changed - and so should energy policy."

Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI)

"Opening global markets to US producers will support added domestic production that will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and contribute tens of billions of (gross domestic product) dollars in the supply chain in the next few years... [It will also] put downward pressure on domestic fuel prices."

Tulsa World

"For 40 years, US producers have been legally prohibited from exporting crude oil. As the old saying goes, "it seemed like a good idea at the time"... Now, however, it's time to reconsider this policy... There simply are no good arguments to continue the ban. Republicans, Democrats and President Barack Obama support increasing exports to improve the economy. Why should crude oil be an exception? ... It's time to strike the 40-year ban. Give U.S. oil producers a level playing field and American consumers will be the beneficiaries."

Donald Patterson

Illinois Energy Citizens

"Congress may have meant well back in 1975, but the damage to the US economy from this one bill has gone on long enough. Congress needs to mark the 40th anniversary of the ban on crude oil exports by repealing it and letting US business compete with the same advantages as the rest of the world."

Douglas Polk

Vice President–Industry Affairs, Vallourec USA Corporation

"When it comes to energy, however, the United States is out of step not only with its free market ideals, but with the rest of the world. Not a single country on earth forbids exports of crude oil -- except ours... America's innovators and entrepreneurs have performed a near miracle by putting us back on top as the world's oil leader. All they need now is for Washington to allow them to compete. It would be tragic irony if decades-old trade restrictions designed to protect domestic oil supplies ended up destroying the American energy renaissance, and hindering economic and job growth in the Sooner State and elsewhere."

Christopher Guith

Senior Vice President - Policy, Institute for 21st Century Energy, US Chamber of Commerce

"Our policies really are stuck in a 40-year time lapse."

Gov. Greg Abbott

R-TX

"[The federal ban is a] relic from an era of scarcity and flawed price control policies [that should be lifted at a time when the country is awash in low-priced crude.]"

Americans for Tax Reform

"This massive increase in crude production has the potential to: reduce US gas prices; create hundreds of thousands of new jobs; increase GDP; increase household incomes; and reduce the US trade deficit... However all of these benefits are contingent on whether Congress will act to lift the decades old ban on crude exports."

Ben Carson

Retired Neurosurgeon; Potential Republican Presidential Candidate, 2016

"We need to take that energy and be able to export it... You know, our oil, our natural gas — we have these crazy energy exportation limits from the '70s. They're still in place. Get rid of those."

Ray Perryman

President, The Perryman Group (TPG)

"Given current reserves, production potential, and projected domestic needs, there is certainly no economic rationale to continue these restrictions... By allowing US production to be sold globally, lifting the ban would enhance the prospects of the domestic industry."

Gov. Scott Walker

R-WI

"We've got an abundance of supply... Think about the impact we could have, not just economically, but from a security standpoint, if we lifted that crude oil ban that has been in place and allow to export in places like our allies in Europe, where instead of being dependent on (Vladimir) Putin and the Russians, they could be dependent on Americans."

Jay Timmons

President and Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Manufacturers

"There are countless untapped opportunities in the international market that could grow the American economy. Policymakers in Washington have routinely sought out those opportunities through policies that encourage exportation. However, when the product being exported is energy, the same rules don't apply... If they want to grow the economy and promote free trade, it means Congress must lift the outdated ban on crude oil exports. It's time for up-to-date legislation that reflects today's market. It's not 1975 anymore."

Larry Nichols

Executive Chairman, Devon Energy Corporation

"We are now producing so much oil and natural gas, we don't have anywhere else to put it. Storage is full; we've shut down wells... [The president should] get rid of this silly export ban... There's no other industry where we have bans on exports like the US ban on the export of oil... We ban Iran from exporting oil, and we ban the United States. The Obama administration is working on lifting the ban on Iran. As a simple Okie, I can't figure that out."

Ed Longanecker

President, Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association

"We applaud the initiative of the Texas Legislature to prompt Congress to repeal the nation's crude export ban... Allowing American oil and gas free access to the global marketplace will finally acknowledge the new reality of the American energy renaissance. These policy changes will benefit American workers and consumers while providing a huge boost to our economy ... We hope that Congress and the president will heed these unambiguous, bipartisan messages from America's leading energy-producing state."

Brent Gardner

Vice President—Government Affairs, Americans for Prosperity

"This antiquated Carter-era policy is an obstacle to further growth and participation in the global energy market. Ending it would encourage more growth in the sector by opening new markets – a boon to the energy economy and consumers alike... AFP is proud to support repeal of the crude oil export ban (S. 1312), which is a key element of our Reform America 2015 agenda."

William S. Cohen

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Cohen Group; former Secretary of Defense, Clinton Administration

"By allowing the US to become a stable source of supply to global energy markets, counteracting supply disruptions that will inevitably affect other energy-rich regions, President Obama and Congress can double down on promoting long-term economic growth and reinforcing US foreign policy leadership... For the first time in a half century, President Obama has the opportunity to re-write the energy balance of power in our favor and solidify his legacy on trade. President Obama is the only US president in decades who has had the tool of energy abundance at his disposal; he should use it."

Charleston Daily Mail

"With one action, the US Congress could reduce the nation's trade deficit, grow US jobs, increase revenue and assure more US influence across the world... Lifting that ban would not just help US-based oil producers create more American jobs and revenue, but would give the US considerably more non-military influence in foreign policy... Congress should act to remove the ban on oil exports."

Rep. Fred Upton

Chairman of the House Energy Committee, R-MI

"Oil exports can be a win for the American people and a win for our allies."

Sen. James Lankford

R-OK

"The energy industry has been a bright spot through a recession, and its potential, specifically in the area of crude oil exports, is tremendous... We actually have the capacity to produce enough resources to be a net exporter, yet are unable to do so due to an antiquated and outdated ban. We should take every advantage to export both our resources and our values to nations around the world."

M. Jake Dollarhide

Chief Executive Officer, Longbow Asset Management

"Now, while the rest of the nation is in an economic recovery, economies in Oklahoma, Texas, North Dakota and Colorado are hurting because oil's price has decreased so dramatically. That decrease in price isn't because of demand change. It is because we are oversupplied with crude... Exporting some of that crude might relieve some backlog, and the general belief is that likely would help support its price."

Mike Cantrell

Chairman, National Stripper Well Association

"When America competes on the world market, Americans win. The energy industry is no exception."

Jamie Webster

Senior Director, IHS Energy Insight

"Continuation of this ban hurts American consumers, causes unnecessary drag on American productivity, and does not let the US exploit fully the national security benefits from our energy resurgence."

Tom Dennis

Opinion Editor, Grand Forks Herald

"On balance, has the Oil Boom been good for North Dakota? ... If you answer "yes," then you should favor lifting the U.S. government's ban on exporting oil... Because one sure result of lifting the ban would be a longer and stronger boom... For that matter, has it benefited the United States? The answer to both questions clearly is "yes." Which means Congress should lift the oil-export ban, because doing so would make a good thing even better."

Maroš Šefčovič

Vice President, Energy Union, European Commission

"[Easing flows of liquefied natural gas and crude oil from the U.S. to the EU is one of the bloc's goals for the trans-Atlantic trade and investment partnership, or TTIP]... We believe that the energy chapter in TTIP... could make a quite important contribution to the mutually beneficial trade exchange, but also to the energy security of the EU... We are the biggest market in the world; we are the biggest energy importer in the world. So I think we are a quite important destination for any energy exporter."

Jason Garner

Vice President, Crawley Petroleum

"Allowing crude exports levels the playing field for a global commodity. Oil produced outside of the US enjoys a 10% price premium to our own. It's not because the rest of the world's oil is better-quality. It's because we can't export those barrels to find the best markets and refiners... Eliminating an antiquated federal law will enable independent producers to invest in more American energy development. In doing so, this legislation will serve to make a more free and secure America."

Michael A. Andrews

Counsel, King & Spalding; former Texas Congressman

"By removing the export ban, the US will be in a much stronger and more leveraged position in the world's marketplace. The US will be able to provide assistance to our important allies and trading partners like the European countries, which remain heavily dependent on Russian oil... Lifting the ban would encourage more investment by energy companies in new technologies, increase competition and production levels, add more jobs and ensure a more consistent and reliable market place. This flawed policy has become a relic of the past, and the odds are good that this year President Obama and Congress will end the crude oil export ban."

Leon E. Panetta

Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency; former Secretary of Defense (Obama Administration)

"Too often foreign-policy debates in America focus on issues such as how much military power should be deployed to the Middle East, whether the U.S. should provide arms to the Ukrainians, or what tougher economic sanctions should be imposed on Iran. Ignored is a powerful, nonlethal tool: America's abundance of oil and natural gas. The US remains the great arsenal of democracy. It should also be the great arsenal of energy."

(joint statement with Stephen J. Hadley)

Stephen J. Hadley

Chairman, Board of Directors, United States Institute of Peace; former Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (George W. Bush Administration)

"Too often foreign-policy debates in America focus on issues such as how much military power should be deployed to the Middle East, whether the U.S. should provide arms to the Ukrainians, or what tougher economic sanctions should be imposed on Iran. Ignored is a powerful, nonlethal tool: America's abundance of oil and natural gas. The US remains the great arsenal of democracy. It should also be the great arsenal of energy."

(joint statement with Leon E. Panetta)

Jeffrey Cook

President, Southwestern Oil Company

"Imagine, though, if our government banned Ford, GM, and Chrysler from exporting their vehicles across the world. Surely, Michigan's economy would suffer, the automotive supply chain would shrink, and many of our friends and neighbors would be out of work... That exact policy is the law for American crude oil. It's an outdated, decades-old ban that Congress must repeal... Increasing US exports is a bipartisan and sound policy that will create opportunity for American families and businesses and help our nation fully realize the benefits of our domestic energy revolution."

Sen. Joe Manchin III

D-WV

"This [May 2015] bill provides triggers to stop exports if gas prices increase or if our economy is adversely affected... Lifting the ban on oil exports will also improve our national security interests by reducing our trade deficits, neutralizing countries like Iran that extract the same types of oil as the United States, expanding our competitive edge in a global marketplace, and providing a stable source of energy to our allies so that they will no longer be dependent on undemocratic regimes."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

J.W. "Jay" Wall III

Senior Vice President, Moody Rambin

"It is difficult to listen to the argument that the ban boosts our national security. It undermines America's moral authority at the World Trade Organization, where the administration berates China, for example, for imposing export bans on scarce minerals. Most important, American crude-oil exports would hurt hostile petrostates, such as Russia and Iran... Ending the export ban should be an easy call. Not only will it enhance national security, it will also increase jobs and anchor the sputtering U.S. economy. And, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out how or why."

Rep. Tom Cole

R-OK

"If you think that by closing off the domestic market and keeping American prices low, you're going to continue to have the production we've had, you're not. Most of the things that have brought oil prices down have been because America has been the one country in the world that has dramatically increased its production in the last five years from about five to nine million barrels a day. That's a big deal. Every American driver is benefitting. I think the same thing would happen globally."

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee

R-AK

"President Obama's energy policies threaten American security and prosperity. It's time we get real... As president, I will lift the crude oil export ban, which will generate $160 billion and create 630,000 new jobs in mining, construction and manufacturing. I'll approve the Keystone pipeline and lift the defacto ban on natural gas exports to create another 90,000 new American jobs... We need to get serious about American energy security and reject the stupidity and short-sightedness of this administration."

Mark Bloomfield

President and Chief Executive Officer, American Council for Capital Formation

"The White House and Congress should speed the trade policies needed to make the most of the vast untapped potential of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil while the nation still has a commanding lead in global energy markets. Opening up export markets for energy, and building the necessary port infrastructure, will also bring billions of dollars in new investment back into the oil and gas industry."

Michael McDonald

Contributor, oilprice.com; Assistant Professor of Finance; Capital Structure and Investments Consultant

"Even as politicians in Washington look increasingly likely to vote and probably pass a deal regarding the Trans Pacific Partnership, one critical US good remains stymied by trade restrictions: oil... Now that the unconventional production has taken off though, the rationale for the ban no longer makes sense."

Rep. Steve Scalise

R-LA; House of Representatives Majority Whip

"[The export ban is] a relic of the 1970s whose time has come to pass."

Rep. Markwayne Mullin

R-OK

"[Removing the ban on crude oil exports with Rep. Barton's bill] brings stability to the industry, it brings stability to the market."

Don. G. Briggs

President, Louisiana Oil and Gas Association

"The US market is flooded with crude oil and the ban is actually prohibiting our nation from organically responding to a disruption, or over-production, in our very own crude oil supply... The EPCA was possibly reasonable and needed for 1975, but so was walking over to your television to turn the channels."

Gov. John Hickenlooper

D-CO

"Ending the outdated and counterproductive ban on crude oil exports is the next logical step to ensuring that domestic producers continue to invest and that energy consumers benefit."

Tracee Bentley

Executive Director, Colorado Petroleum Council

"I think that Gov. Hickenlooper's support shows that the momentum is growing across the country for lifting this outdated ban on crude oil exports."

The Dickinson Press

Editorial Board

"Energy development in our country has arguably been the lone bright spot of our economy since the recession began. Remember, this all happened despite the White House doing almost everything in its power to curtail the very real potential of American energy independence — something that was almost unthinkable until this decade... Removing the trade embargo on crude oil and authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline would go a long way toward strengthening the industry and restoring lost jobs."

Jeffrey Folks

Contributor, American Thinker; Independent Public Policy Professional

"The energy sector is in crisis, and Obama needs to step in — or, more accurately, step back — by cutting regulations, bans, and needless environmental delays that make US drilling less competitive... For the next president, however, a great opportunity exists — an opportunity so great that it will determine whether America is to continue as the world's leading economy and superpower, or whether it will become a second-rate nation, as many on the left wish it to be."

Lee Tillman

President and CEO, Marathon Oil Corporation

"The shale revolution has been among the greatest achievements in the history of American oil and natural gas, and stands as a testament to the spirit of technological and engineering innovation exemplified by the men and women of this great industry. American innovation has once again changed the game entirely ... But U.S. policies haven't kept up. The 1970s-era policy that bans oil exports is antiquated and rooted in a time of scarcity not abundance. To put it simply, the policy is destroying value and negatively impacting our economy, consumers and producers alike. Even in a time of low crude oil prices, addressing the crude oil export ban is crucial to our country and our allies around the world."

Charles McConnell

Executive Director, Energy & Environment Institute (E21); former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Energy

"I can tell you that by the next administration, whether it's Democrat or Republican, I don't believe it will matter, we will be exporting crude oil... [The US crude oil embargo does not match up to the policy of a country] that professes to be interested in global markets with supply and demand and free trade... The fact is that much of that crude oil is not well-suited for refineries in the United States, and better suited for refineries in places like Europe. They are much more technically suitable for the crude oil that we are now finding."

Gary Clyde Hufbauer

Reginald Jones Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

"It's rare to find a policy that combines bad economics with harmful national security overtones and, at the same time, violates US obligations to the world trading system. But US restrictions on crude oil exports are just that rare bird... No country has launched a parallel case against the crude oil ban, but the president and Congress should not wait. They should amend US policy because it's the right thing to do — for the economy, for national security and to respect international obligations."

Dan Ervin

Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Finance - Perdue School of Business, Salisbury University

"With America's oil production increasing steadily, it is time to lift a ban on exports of crude oil. Only then will we be able to deal with the growing demand for oil and the economic and security challenges of the post-OPEC world... The administration and Congress can do nothing — or they can assert leadership. If the ban remains in place, oil production will decline, diminishing the great benefits of the shale revolution."

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp

D-ND

"The antiquated policy that we're talking about today didn't have a lot of logic after we deregu-lated oil. And it has even less logic in the dangerous world that we live in today... We have an opportunity to say to our allies — whether it's Japan or Europe — don't worry about whether somebody is going to hold you hostage because we've got your back. But we can't have their back if we don't have the ability to export our crude oil."

Ben Wolfgang

White House Reporter, The Washington Times

"The White House acknowledged last week that sending American crude oil abroad would not drive up domestic gas prices, a common refrain among export opponents... But unlike American natural gas ex-port projects — which President Obama has come to support and the Energy Department gradually has begun to allow — the administration has shown no signs of changing course on the crude oil ban, a relic from the early 1970s when global shortages led the federal government to guard U.S. fuel supplies and block exports."

Tom Duesterberg

Executive Director, Manufacturing and Society in the 21st Century, The Aspen Institute

"My view is to go ahead. You can do it with the stroke of a pen. Executive action is permissible in these circumstances... You don't necessarily need to pass a piece of legislation. That would be helpful, but once you lift the ban there's not much that stands in the way."

San Antonio Express-News

Editorial Board

"Times and circumstances have changed. The US is scheduled to overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil production. Hydraulic fracturing reinvigorated the domestic oil industry. New markets could mean even more production. And that's jobs saved and created. Texas' congressional delegation should be on the front lines in this fight. Congress should lift the ban."

Steven Knight

FX Markets Research Analyst, Blackwell Global

"Ultimately, rebalancing crude supply is a process which has a significant lead time and is complicated by restrictive legislation within the U.S. domestic market. It begs the question, at what point does the U.S. administration see the upside of ending a program that only benefits refineries and fails to support the fledgling shale oil market."

Robert Dillon

Communications Director, US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

"The problem we have now is that producers have to shut in production as prices remain low. Once prices come back up they'll start producing again, but this process creates a lot of volatility in the market... By lifting the ban, we remove that volatility and we remove uncertainty... Europe is begging us to export to them... By removing this ban, we increase price stability and we gain a lot of economic power."

John B. Hess

Chief Executive Officer, Hess Corporation

"The ban on crude-oil exports is a relic of another time... Our neighbors Canada and Mexico produce oil and export it. Why not the US?"

Rep. Henry Cuellar

D-TX

"It's time for the crude oil ban to be lifted, allowing the US to compete in the global marketplace and reap the benefits of doing so, including hundreds of thousands of jobs—many of which will be in Texas. While I work with my friends across the aisle like Congressman Barton to ensure that the current, outdated bans on oil exports are lifted, I will also fight to ensure America's refineries have equal access to American oil— we cannot enact legislation that benefits only one portion of the energy sector while disadvantaging another to the benefit of foreign competitors."

William Gilliam

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Badlands NGLS, LLC

"You know some folks earlier expressing concern about domestic crude prices is right now and people are saying, 'Why is this happening?'...It is an interesting thing. Look at the amount of crude oil producing in the United States today versus ten years ago, yet we have exactly the same number of refineries. And we have a law against exporting crude. If we don't have some solutions for more refineries and the ability to exports, no matter how will we do with production, technology, this that the other thing, I fear that you know we could start seeing a real ceiling on crude prices in this country and it's a very artificial ceiling."

Robert Bryce

Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute's Center for Energy Policy and the Environment

"When it comes to the issue of importing and exporting, the U.S. is already exporting roughly four million barrels per day of refined products. We are one of the biggest oil exporters in the world. Do we still import a lot? Sure we do. But we import and export a lot of things ... We are a country in theory that is based on free markets and free people, why would we want to be independent of the world's biggest market? The energy market. We need to be interdependent in the marketplace not independent."

The Denver Post

Editorial Board

"...The U.S. continues to impose a ban on oil exports that was enacted in the 1970s in the wake of the Arab oil embargo. For years the ban was relatively harmless, but today it inhibits domestic production and should be lifted ... The president has the power to lift the ban on his own. Congress could do it, too. If they did, they'd be creating jobs and aiding consumers with a single stroke."

Mitch Zacks

Portfolio Manager, Zacks Investment Management

"In my view, however, the biggest story relating to crude oil is the one not being told: Why does the U.S. still have a 40-year old ban on exporting crude oil? ... While the supply dynamic and the market landscape have changed dramatically, the laws have not ... Lifting the export ban will likely help consumers ... In the U.S., there's one thing we know for sure: what helps the consumer helps the economy. Something we can all agree is a desired outcome."

Leigh Thompson

Policy Analyst, Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment, Texas Policy Foundation

"For almost four decades the ban on crude oil exports has put American crude oil producers at the mercy of domestic refiners by limiting the market to which they can sell ... The U.S. is already a net exporter of refined oil and opening up the ability to export crude oil could provide a much more dynamic oil market. Simply, companies only drill if they can sell oil at a profit ... Many in Congress continue to oppose lifting the export ban, which belies their real motivation for its support — climate change politics ... Whether under the guise of a climate change plan or export ban, one thing is clear: continued federal intrusions on the free market threaten the continued success of energy production in Texas and across the country."

Former Gov. Jeb Bush

R-FL

"Now is the time to pursue smart policies so that we can reindustrialize our economy and lift up working families who have been squeezed by stagnating wages and high prices ...Let's start by getting rid of the roadblocks to our energy economy — anything that keeps newfound energy supplies from reaching potential markets ....We need to end the decades-old policies that have hindered the export of liquefied natural gas and effectively banned the export of oil. Capitalizing on our status as the world's largest producer of natural gas and soon-to-be largest producer of oil will reduce our trade deficit and create even more manufacturing jobs."

Jason Grumet

Founder and President, Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC)

"BPC believes that Congress and the administration should take further steps to lift restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports. ... In general, lifting the ban will increase U.S. production. While no one can confidently predict the price impact of adding 1-2% of additional crude to the global market, the basic dynamics of supply and demand should give us all high confidence that increasing supply will ultimately lower the costs of crude and gasoline, and more importantly reduce the vulnerability of the global market to disruptions leading to price spikes."

Bloomberg

The Editors

"The way to lessen U.S. vulnerability, however, is not to withdraw from the world oil market altogether (if that were even possible). It's to sell more of the U.S.'s expanding crude stores abroad. As a bigger player, the U.S. would have a greater influence on price ... So why not just lift the ban? Because members of Congress are basically afraid that if they were to do that, and the price of gasoline were to rise, they would get the blame. Balanced against the reward of a more stable and reliable energy market — and the reality of currently low gasoline prices — that doesn't seem such a huge risk. In any case, it's the kind of risk politicians are elected to take."

Tim Cutt

President, Petroleum and Potash, BHP Billiton

"Thousands of jobs are at risk as one of the greatest engines of American employment and economic growth – the U.S. oil and gas industry – is being throttled back. U.S. crude oil has been trading near a 20% discount to the world market price due to a Nixon-era ban on the export of U.S. crude oil that is depriving America of much needed export income. We believe it is time for the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration to work together to lift the ban on oil exports. "Give everyone a fair go," as they say in Australia."

Tony Starkey

Manager, Energy Analysis, BENTEK Energy

"The US crude oil market has finally hit the proverbial wall that Bentek Energy has long predicted would arise as a result of persistent supply growth. Traditional demand sources are struggling to absorb this growing supply, made evident by crude inventories that are surging higher at unprecedented rates. Domestic production, however, remains captive in the US due to antiquated policies that limit the exports of domestically produced crude. Growing US supply has led to depressed prices, signaling to the market that the US is surpassing demand needs at today's production level of 9.4 MMb/d. Exports to the globe, therefore, are the last significant demand source for US crude. Unchanged, the current US crude export policy signals the end of growth in North America's shale crude revolution."

Grant Taylor

President and Chief Executive Officer, Hobbs Chamber of Commerce, New Mexico

"I think it would be hugely beneficial for this region to have [the crude oil export] ban lifted ... There's a demand for the oil we produce, and we do have the supply that's inhibited from being sold to global markets from this ban."

Rep. Larry Scott

R-NM

"There's a surplus of oil here that can be marketed at world prices, [and that would bring more money for the state's budget]."

Dr. Gary Wolfram

William E. Simon Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Director of Economics, Hillsdale College; President, Hillsdale Policy Group

"Unfortunately, a 40-year-old statute, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, doesn't allow oil companies to export crude oil without specific permission from the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) within the Department of Commerce... aside from being outdated, it has resulted in economic distortions that have become readily apparent in recent years... Repealing the outdated and inefficient export ban – a measure that made little economic sense even when it was enacted in 1975 – would improve the US economy and strengthen the negotiating position of the West in world that has become increasingly contentious."

Alex Martinelli

Editor, Energy and Capital

"The situation is complicated, but if done properly, a lifting of the ban could pay huge dividends, not just for investors but for the entire North American energy industry... With oil prices low, US drillers need any cost advantage they can get to stay in business, and if oil exports are legalized, the price relief could give North America a stronger grip on the global industry... Beyond the cost advantage, US oil exports would greatly benefit our allies, who are at risk of shortages and supply squeezes because of turmoil in the Middle East."

Sen. Robert Nichols

R-TX

"Numerous studies have found that removing the ban on crude oil and allowing American ex-ports into the global market will greatly benefit U.S. trade and American consumers while also creating more jobs and opportunities for Texans."

Steve Forbes

Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Media

"Antiquated restrictions on oil and gas exports are especially harmful now. Our oil storage ca-pacity has peaked, which means oil fields will have to cut production because there's no place to store the stuff. It's one thing when lower prices or less demand affect output; it's quite another when production is reduced be-cause of artificial, government-caused reasons. Repealing these prohibitions would not only lead to more demand from overseas for our oil and gas but also bring closer the day that the US becomes the world's leading energy producer According to one report, between 394,000 and 859,000 US jobs could be created by lifting these export bans. Americans would receive lower long-term energy prices, and increased US energy output would make the world a safer place."

Mayor Jay Dean

Longview, Texas

"The people that make [a] piece of chocolate can send it and sell it anywhere. Why is it that the people that spend their money to produce oil, they are limited to sell their product? ... Why do we continue to work with 45-, 50-year-old legislation that doesn't fit anymore? Our technology to reach oil and gas deposits like never before has outpaced the demand probably by at least 10 years."

Rep. Louie Gohmert

R-TX

"[House Resolution 1487, known as the American Energy Renaissance Act, that I co-sponsored], contains a provision which would repeal the statutory and regulatory limitations on crude oil exports and require approval of export licenses, except for export to countries subject to sanctions or trade restrictions imposed by the United States, or those designated for exclusion by the president or Congress for reasons of national security."

Rep. Steve Pearce

R-NM

"Perhaps no other state in the nation has a bigger stake in robust oil and gas production than New Mexico. But that stake is at serious risk due to the inability of our state's oil producers to find enough cus-tomers to buy their now abundant supply... The reason: In the 1970s, during the Arab oil embargo that ignited a US energy crisis, Congress enacted laws prohibiting domestically produced crude oil from being exported. ... Oil and gas production is the lifeblood of New Mexico's economy: 69,000 jobs – 9 percent of all New Mexican employment – are tied to oil and gas development. In 2013, state revenue from oil and gas accounted for 31.5 percent of the state's general fund and was directly responsible for paying for 85 percent of the state's capital projects... In 2014, oil and gas was directly responsible for generating $726 million for schools, universities and public hospitals... Specifically, the export ban translates into lost jobs, lost taxes and decreased royalties; losses with heavy consequences for New Mexico. It is time to lift the destructive oil export ban. Washington should deliver this win-win for the nation and New Mexico."

Robin West

Senior Adviser—Energy and National Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

"[The export ban restrictions are] helping OPEC to smother US production, which is bad for our economy as well as our energy security."

Rep. Brooks Landgraf

R-TX

"A repeal of the crude oil export ban would help our economy here in the Permian Basin and it would also strengthen the geopolitical standing of the United States in the world... To help with the effort, I have co-authored legislation in the Texas House of Representatives (H.C.R. 57) urging Congress to lift the ban on American crude oil exports. ...When America exports our crude oil to the rest of the world, we will strengthen our geopolitical influence. America's allies across the globe will benefit from a diversified oil supply... Better yet, if the United States becomes a crude oil exporter, it will serve to weaken the influence of OPEC, an organization that bears responsibility for manipulating global prices, which has harmed our economy here in West Texas... America operates best under a system of free enterprise and open markets. I am proud to support a repeal of the outdated crude oil export ban, and I urge Congress to promptly repeal the current law."

Rick Perry

Former Governor of Texas

"I would get North America in the worldwide energy business in a big way... I think it is a major error we are making not allowing our crude to be used... If energy is going to be used as a weapon, we need to have the largest arsenal."

North Dakota Legislative Assembly

"The 1970s saw high oil prices as a result of OPEC nations withholding production and a need to increase domestic energy production and supply to provide for energy independence... The reasons for the prohibition were to preserve domestic price ceilings by preventing domestic producers from receiving higher world oil prices and to preserve a depleting domestic reserve... Directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies in the Bakken Formation and other shale plays in the United States have made the United States more crude oil independent... The continued oil production in this region and across the United States has provided the opportunity for economic growth and stability through the export of crude oil and the prohibition on exports of crude oil is no longer necessary... The Sixty-forth Legislative Assembly urges the Congress of the United States to lift the prohibition on the export of crude oil from the United States."

Judd Gregg

Former Governor and three-term Senator of New Hampshire

"The United States holds most of the cards because we have a great deal of oil. The problem is that we cannot play those cards on the world stage because of our outdated and counter-productive policy banning exports... Lifting the ban on exporting oil in the first place is very attractive to the energy producing regions... It would also be nice for the country, as it would generate a massive shift in our balance of trade accounts which have been running in the negative for three decades now, primarily due to oil imports... This would essentially mean that instead of sending money out to the country to support other economies, we would be getting other nations' money into the country to build our own economy."

Rye Druzin

Business Reporter, Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram

"A possible release valve for America's supply glut is the lifting of the decades-old oil export ban, which has hobbled U.S. producers' ability to send excess crude to European refineries to be processed, creating the supply backlog that is filling storage containers and ships from Cushing, Oklahoma, to the gulf. Falling production in US oil fields may also alleviate some of the supply pressure if producers decide to not tap the oil that is ready to be produced. Such decisions would cement the United State's status as the world's new swing producer."

Kenneth B. Medlock III

Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics and Senior Director, Center for Energy Studies, Rice University Baker Institute for Public Policy

"Opening foreign markets to US crude would facilitate new investments in the upstream and midstream sectors, as domestic oil prices would move into greater parity with other international crudes... Coun-terintuitive to some, removing the ban generates distinct energy security benefits... Some have argued that crude oil exports would increase gasoline prices in the US. However, because refined products, such as gasoline, can be freely exported, the prices of refined products sold in the US are in parity with international refined product prices. Thus, the discounted prices of oil produced in the US are not reflected in USgasoline and refined product prices. Thus, removing the crude export ban, although it would raise the price of crude oil domestically, would not increase the price of gasoline in the US."

David Fessler

Managing Editor of "Peak Energy Strategist" and Energy and Infrastructure Strategist, The Oxford Club

"What we really need to end volatility is the ability to export American crude oil... Now America finds itself between a rock and a hard place. Here we are with all this wonderful, light, sweet crude that we are unable to turn into finished products... and we can't even export it... If we lift the embargo, WTI prices would flip-flop with Brent. This would have a positive effect on the US balance of trade. Our exports would increase by bil-lions of dollars per year... Of course, none of this can happen without agreement between the president and Congress - a change in sentiment that I'm not expecting anytime soon... Even if it is for our common good."

Morris Beschloss

Global Economist Analyst

"The tragedy of current 'US embargo' policies is speeding up the process of dismantling the previous growth intensity of fracking, with an ultimate potential of 15 to 20 million barrels a day and total energy independence within a decade... While the current embargo's retention is supported by political segments in the Administration and Congress, due to the fear of higher gasoline prices, this is a misconception, since such a resumption of fracking production would keep gasoline prices in check... A lifting of the embargo would greatly enhance the production of domestic WTI oil and increase both employment and revenues, as well as expansion of the US economy. This owes much of its current growth to 'fracking expansion,' only beginning to be exploited currently."

Elizabeth Rosenberg

Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics and Security Program, Center for a New American Security

"In a domestic market awash with oil, keeping 1970s-era export restrictions in place discriminates against US producers and threatens investment in new supply, thereby jeopardizing economic, security, and trade gains from the energy boom... Policymakers should lift the oil export ban to bring export policy in line with present market circumstances, to promote free trade and responsible growth in the sector, and to reap the geopolitical advantages of having a larger and more flexible role in the global oil market."

Doug Suttles

President and Chief Executive Officer, Encana

"[Lifting the ban is] pro-consumer, it is pro the economy, it's pro national security, and it is a bi-partisan issue... If the ban were removed, it would encourage up to $1 trillion of investment, increasing jobs in all areas of the economy."

Larry Wall

Contributor, Cray24 Political News; former Director of Public Affairs, Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association

"Politicians are interested in lifting the export ban. The Senate Energy Committee is scheduling a hearing on the issue... However, neither Congress nor the White House is willing to risk the political backlash of changing a policy that was sold as protecting consumers... Let this be a wake-up call. The policy never worked. It is not working now. Lawmakers need to accept the fact that a decision, made more than 40-years ago, is not working, has not worked and most likely will never work... Once that becomes clear, the rest is easy."

Deborah Yedlin

Business Columnist, Calgary Herald

"What needs to happen — sooner rather than later — is for the US to lift the archaic oil export ban that's been in place since the Nixon administration and the oil crisis of the early 1970s."

Velda Addison

Associate Editor (E&P), Hart Energy Publishing

"As the drop in oil prices continues to hit oil and gas companies' profits resulting in project delays and layoffs, it is only a matter of time before the industry's pain trickles to the coffers of local, state and federal governments ... Maybe then the push to lift the crude oil export ban will gain momentum. But hopefully, the powers that be will see the benefits of the move and make the change before economies fall into the doldrums."

Sen. Bill Cassidy

R-LA

"CBO's estimating that our GDP will grow by 2 percent over the next five or six years, it's awful ... We can increase it by 1 percent just with exports."

Sen. Steve Daines

R-MT

"Many of the world's energy resources are in unstable regions... I do believe the world should rely more on American energy, instead of Russia or the Middle East."

Hon. Michele Flournoy

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Center for a New American Security; former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

"Policymakers in the United States should embrace these various benefits to our allies and ourselves and liberalize our crude export rules... Market conditions merit such a step and security dividends will not be fully realized without it."

Kevin Allison

Journalist, Business Standard

"Some shale drillers may well change tack were a barrel to sell for $60. That's the level the most efficient drillers, like EOG, need to justify upping investment. It is, though, 36% above the current WTI price, whereas Brent is only 13% shy... Lifting the export ban ought to remove some, if not all, of that disparity. US drillers competing on a level playing field with the rest of the world's oil producers would not just be able to take better advantage of an eventual recovery in prices. They would also not be as exposed to further pain. Preventing foreign sales is an outdated policy as it is. Ending it is fast becoming a job-saving necessity."

Christi Craddick

Chairman, Texas Railroad Commission

"The US crude oil export ban that was put into place decades ago no longer makes sense in current times...While trade restrictions put a strain on this important American industry and threaten future oil production, expanding markets for U.S. crude oil will incentivize production and create a more vibrant energy sector."

Rep. Drew Darby

R-TX

"Congress should update our national trade policy to benefit Texas producers and consumers."

Theodore W. Kassinger

Partner, O'Melveny & Myers LLP; former Deputy Secretary and General Counsel, US Department of Commerce

"The policy rationale for the ban no longer exists, and there are compelling economic and na-tional security reasons for lifting the ban at some point... I think it will happen. When it will happen is a bigger question... We don't need all this light crude oil that is being produced... It can't actually be efficiently absorbed. So it makes the most sense, from a US policy perspective, to sell what we don't need and buy what we want to buy."

Ryan Sitton

Commissioner, Texas Railroad Commission

"The growth in production in Texas and the United States over the last six years has dwarfed production in other countries... We are in a position to establish a new normal whereby we get beyond discus-sions of energy independence and focus our efforts on dominating global energy markets. To fully realize this opportunity, the United States needs a comprehensive energy plan; something we haven't really ever had... I fully support our state's strong stance to make these energy policy changes a reality and allowing Texans to compete in a market free of government manipulation."

Ekaterina Blinova

Political Analyst

"The United States is currently losing a cutthroat global competition in the oil industry, due to the 1970s-era rules which ban American producers from exporting unrefined crude oil, qualified by experts as a crucial strategic error in the oil price war... American policy-makers are yet unwilling to support oil export liberali-zation, citing concerns about a probable hike in retail fuel prices in the US. Thus far, the question remains open whether the US oil industry will survive or not in the cutthroat competition, fighting with its hands tied behind its back."

The Financial Times

"The 1970s-era rules that ban exports of unrefined crude oil except in a few limited circum-stances are a relic of the OPEC oil embargo. They already served no useful purpose...Studies have confirmed that they do nothing to hold down fuel costs for US consumers, instead handing undeserved rents to refiners. Their continued existence undermines the international credibility of US support for free trade. Moreover, at a time of weak prices, they are particularly pernicious because of the threat they pose to US production... By con-tinuing to restrict exports, the US is therefore undermining its own production and helping competitors such as Russia and Saudi Arabia to increase their share of world markets. Regulations sometimes defended as a support for America's energy security will actually increase its net imports... Recent moves such as allowing increased exports of the ultralight oil known as condensate have been small steps in the right direction but not comprehen-sive enough to make a real difference. The best solution would be the complete abandonment of all oil export controls... In the global oil price war, the US is battling with one hand tied behind its back. It is time to abandon an outdated policy and make it a fair fight."

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

Columnist, Editorial Writer, and member of The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board

"Oil is overflowing US storage facilities partly because of the 40-year-old export ban. Today's oil export ban was part of a spasm of nonsensical responses to the 1970s, all of them producing disasters on their own different schedules... The third stooge of 1970s energy policy, the ban on US oil exports, is now get-ting ready to produce its own unique pratfall. Thanks to the fracking boom in Texas and North Dakota, America is producing more light sweet crude than domestic refineries can handle. Oil producers were already being de-nied a premium of $12 a barrel by not being allowed to export this oil. Soon the only option may be to shut down production altogether... You may recall that Congress murmured a year ago about rolling back the export ban after analysts at Citigroup started warning of a looming storage crisis. Members quickly sank back to their knees under bludgeoning from shipping, labor and refinery interests."

George David Banks

Executive Vice President, American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF)

"Upon releasing their comprehensive energy policy package last month, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Edward Whitfield, R-Ky., noted, 'Our energy realities have changed dramatically — we've gone from bust to boom practi-cally over-night. Today's energy policies are lagging far behind, and are better suited for the gas lines in the 1970s than this new era of abundance. We need policies that meet today's needs and are focused on the fu-ture...' I couldn't agree more with Upton and Whitfield. We are in the midst of an energy renaissance and it is well past time for our energy policies to catch up. However, while their agenda is a good first step, I would urge them to broaden it to include a specific look at lifting the ban on crude oil exports and expanding liquefied natural gas exports. Then our policies truly will be focused on the future... Not only will encouraging the export of our coun-try's abundant natural resources benefit Americans here at home, but it will also make the United States a global energy leader in energy diplomacy, one of the four policy areas stressed in the Energy and Commerce Commit-tee's legislative framework. The combination of increased domestic resources and an expanding global market presents our country with a historic opportunity. It will allow us to strengthen our economy and create jobs while increasing energy security for our allies abroad."

The Prince Arthur Herald

Editorial Board

"By lifting the oil export ban and approving Keystone XL, President Obama could score big strategically. By flooding the world with American supply even only marginally, OPEC might fall apart through exacerbated existing tensions. OPEC members are some of the biggest contributors to terrorist coffers. Oil rich Saudi Arabian sheiks shovel money to jihadists, while Iran shovels money at Hezbollah and Hamas. In the long run, lower oil prices might make the world a little safer by sapping terrorist financing. Another collateral benefit would be to weaken Vladimir Putin. By sending oil to Europe where prices are higher than in America, Obama could save Europeans from their dependency on Russian oil. Russia, already reeling from European and Ameri-can sanctions, might be forced to reform under increased competition for its oil exports ... Obama should re-verse his oscillations and swiftly help to undercut OPEC's hold on the global oil industry."

Houston Chronicle

Editorial Board

"More than 100 members of the Texas House have signed on to a proposed resolution that calls the 1970s-era ban on oil exports 'a relic from an era of scarcity and flawed price control policies'... There's little reason why Texas wildcatters shouldn't be allowed to sell their products on the open market like anyone else. Instead we're stuck with a policy that leads to a perversion of the market, where Texas oil is less expensive than global prices. This hurts folks coming and going: Producers have to sell their wares for less and drivers have to pay more at the pump. After, all gasoline and other refined products are traded on an international mar-ket, while crude oil remains trapped behind an export ban."

David Mica

Executive Director, Florida Petroleum Council

"The United States is now a world leader in oil and natural gas production. So why are we still operating under a crude export ban dating from the '70s?... Clearly, the crude export ban is obsolete, and keeping it in place is costing us dearly... Why would we limit our economic potential by keeping one of our most valuable commodities off the global market? Every billion dollars in goods that we export supports about 5,000 U.S. jobs. It's time to eliminate the outdated crude export ban."

John Kingston

President, McGraw Hill Financial Global Institute

"Ultimately, a free market finds the best locations for any commodity to be consumed. So if a ban is lifted and US crude doesn't go anywhere, that's probably a signal from the market that the rest of the world is better off consuming non-US crudes. But the fact that the crude can be exported will help make a more competitive market. It's always out there as, at least, a potential source of supply."

Harold York

Principal Analyst for Oils Research, Wood Mackenzie

"[Exploration and production companies] would really like to capture that Brent price. The policy keeps them from getting that $10 today that they could get If export were allowed to flow freely out of the US ... Especially if you're a producer down on the coast. Somebody who can easily reach ports where they can export the crude."

Louis Finkel

Executive Vice President for Government Affairs, American Petroleum Institute (API)

"To continue growing as an energy superpower, America must have policies that reflect modern energy markets, rather than policies based on a market that existed in the 1970s. Study after study shows that free trade in crude oil will mean more jobs, downward pressure on fuel costs, and could reduce the power that foreign suppliers have over our allies overseas... Our competitors overseas are working hard to lock-in their economic advantages as exporters, and we must act now to ensure US producers can compete effectively for a share of the global market. It's the smart thing to do for US consumers, for US workers, and for the energy security of America and its allies."

Houston Chronicle

"The United States and the European Union have been debating whether they should provide arms for Ukraine, but the best weapons for fighting Vladimir Putin's attempts to undermine a strong Europe are oil and gas... This is the game that the United States can win if we choose to play. Exporting oil and gas poses one of the best opportunities to strengthen our allies in NATO and the European Union. The former Soviet Union provides more than 40% of Europe's oil. Russia has nearly exclusive control over natural gas supplies to the Baltic nations, which the United States has a duty to protect under the NATO charter. This level of control leaves our allies vulnerable to price shocks and supply cuts at the whim of an expansionist oligarch. Yet US crude is still restricted by a 1970s-era export ban and the federal government drags its feet on approving liquified natural gas exports."

Tom Petrie

Chairman, Petrie Partners

"Oil exports in the US make sense... We're going to reach the limits of WTI processing capacity in this country very shortly, maybe this year. We need to have the flexibility to export higher value WTI and import the oils that are most suited to our refining system."

Sen. Connie Triplett

D-ND

"It just seems the time for that kind of restriction has passed and Congress should look forward."

David Floyd

Business Development Associate, Kapitall

"The law stands, but a growing chorus is calling for it to be lifted. The logic is worth considering. First, as The Economist reports, the US already exports a number of hydrocarbons, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas liquids (NGL) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The US is the world's largest exporter of diesel, kerosene and gasoline: as refined products, these are legal to export, but the definition of "refined" is so broad that stabilized crude—the kind that's safe to transport via pipeline—counts... Second, the ban has hampered the efficiency of the US economy... Some suspect that shadowy industry interests are at work: companies want to export crude oil in order to pad thinning margins, and American consumers will suffer at the pump. The first argument is undoubtedly true. But lifting the export ban might actually lower gasoline prices."

Derek B. Miller

President and Chief Executive Officer, World Trade Center Utah

"The strict controls over the export of crude oil is reminiscent of the Smoot Hawley Tariff and other isolationist, depression-inducing policies of the early 1900s. Our country rightly holds in high esteem the simple economic principle that free trade helps both consumers who want the best product at the lowest price and businesses that benefit from maximizing competitive advantages and exporting their goods and services overseas. But interestingly the federal government does not apply this principle of free trade to oil... The better approach for the US consumer who wants to be able to cheer at the gas pump AND see continued growth in the domestic oil and gas industry is to allow these oil producers to do what Americans do best, compete successfully abroad. This means getting rid of the old law and looking forward to legislation that will put the economy, and consequently Utah companies, as the first priority."

Carlos Pascual

Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy

"[The ban is hurting Washington's credibility on the international stage, particularly on related issues such as free trade, sanctions on Iran, and even climate change]... The basic point is to say to countries that we have to [work] together to put global interests and concerns above short-term domestic action... The only way to maintain credibility is if you do it yourself."

Scott Nyquist

Director, McKinsey & Company

"The original oil-export ban was introduced in an era of scarcity, production declines, and price controls. When those conditions no longer exist, the rationale for continuing this policy begins to look as dated as those lava lamps."

Mike Terry

President, Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association

"One of OPEC's key allies has been our own federal government. Antiquated federal policy instituted in 1975 during a time of energy scarcity bans the export of American crude, even though products from US refiners are shipped worldwide. That ban prevents American oil producers from entering the same markets OPEC can, giving the cartel a decided advantage when selling its oil... Ending the country's ban on crude oil exports would help put an end to OPEC dominance and benefit American producers and Oklahoma consumers alike."

Rep. Kevin Cramer

R-ND

"Today, US oil production is higher than any other country's in the world, the trade deficit trend is turning around, technology has reinvented the oil and gas industry and we're less dependent on OPEC nations. We should finish what Reagan started 34 years ago and repeal the ban on exporting crude oil."

Rep. Ted Poe

R-TX

"We export cars, we export everything. But we don't export energy. Why? Because the law prohibits it. So the law needs to be changed."

F. Gregory Gause

Head of International Affairs Department and Professor, The Bush School of Government & Public Service, Texas A&M University

"With prices low now, the leverage of oil exporters like Russia and the OPEC countries is down... Having American oil potentially on the world market - even potentially, doesn't have to be a lot of American oil on the market - makes it less likely that these oil producers can regain leverage... The argument is that we as a country are committed to free trade... Why should our trading partners be denied access to a tradable good like oil, when we do not want them to deny us their tradables and we want our other products to be able to enter their markets?"

Lori Taylor

Associate Professor and Director of the Robert A. Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics and Public Policy, The Bush School of Government & Public Service, Texas A&M University

"The price of oil is set in a world market - the price of gas, less so, but still heavily influenced by global economic conditions... And so the United States essentially imposing a ban on exporting US product harms the United States without any real impact on the rest of the world."

Carlton Carroll

Spokesman, American Petroleum Institute (API)

"Study after study shows that free trade in crude oil will mean more jobs and downward pressure on fuel costs, and could reduce the power that foreign suppliers have over our allies overseas. It's time for policymakers to harness the economic advantages of free trade by lifting outdated and counterproductive limits on U.S. crude exports."

Sarah Palin

Former Governor of Alaska

"If the administration sincerely wanted to help our domestic energy sector, it would lift the four-decade-old ban on exporting crude oil. American producers shouldn't have to beg permission of our own government to export our resources while the White House negotiates increased oil exports from Iran."

Helen Currie

Senior Economist, ConocoPhillips

"Allowing the US to trade more crude, I would argue, strengthens our geopolitical position and helps us to be a better ally to many of our counterparts overseas, whether they are oil consumers or oil producers... The US economy would be better off if exports are allowed."

Sourabh Gupta

Senior Research Associate, Samuels International Associates, Inc.

"Crude oil and natural gas are no longer in short supply and their export overseas does not impair US national security. The ban on their export in fact stands today on questionable legal ground... Going forward, as the US gradually displaces Saudi Arabia and Russia later this decade to become the world's foremost oil producer, it stands to eminent reason that the four-decades-old crude export ban be lifted in stages too... Lifting the ban on the export of domestic crude will allow the North American shale oil revolution to continue apace, generating jobs, profits and tax revenues while enabling the US to remain in compliance with its international trade, as well as, global stakeholder obligations."

Ashok K. Roy

Vice President, Finance & Administration, and Chief Financial Officer, University of Alaska

"Crude oil and natural gas are no longer in short supply and their export overseas does not impair US national security. The ban on their export in fact stands today on questionable legal ground... Going forward, as the US gradually displaces Saudi Arabia and Russia later this decade to become the world's foremost oil producer, it stands to eminent reason that the four-decades-old crude export ban be lifted in stages too... Lifting the ban on the export of domestic crude will allow the North American shale oil revolution to continue apace, generating jobs, profits and tax revenues while enabling the US to remain in compliance with its international trade, as well as, global stakeholder obligations."

Peter E. Gruenstein

Attorney, Gruenstein & Hickey

"It may sound counterintuitive that allowing oil to leave the confines of the US would reduce gas prices within the US, but several recent studies conclude exactly that. That conclusion is based on the straightforward economic principle that when you eliminate an artificial barrier that creates a market inefficiency, lower prices result. In short, free trade is almost always good for consumers... And did I mention that lifting the oil export ban would result in new investment approaching $1 trillion over the next 15 years? That's trillion with a 't.' Almost as much as we spend on some of our wars. By comparison, and even under the most optimistic assumptions, the Keystone pipeline project is a mere cup in the oil export barrel."

Tessa Sandstorm

Director of Communications, North Dakota Petroleum Council

"Many US refineries are built, or were converted decades ago, to process heavy, sulfurous crude oils that are imported from Canada, Mexico and the Middle East. The crude that comes from shale plays like the Bakken and Eagle Ford is light, sweet and very valuable. Despite this value, it is often marketed at a discount because we do not have the refineries here to process this new abundance of oil. For this reason, the US may never truly be energy "independent." ... But we can be independent from those aforementioned countries that would seek to do us harm. The good news is the refineries that are equipped to handle light, sweet crude are among our friends and allies in Europe. The bad news is our export ban prevents them from purchasing our oil, and instead forces them to get it from countries that would also seek to do them harm. Herein lies the first benefit of US oil exports-geopolitical influence. Our ability to compete with OPEC in this global market would take away the organization's ability to manipulate oil prices, which would lend greater stability to the commodity... There are other benefits-namely jobs, economic growth and lower energy prices-that would come from lifting the export ban ... That opportunity starts with lifting the export ban."

Marita Noon

Executive Director, Energy Makes America Great Inc. and Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE)

"While the oil-and-gas industry sheds jobs as a result of the low price of oil (somewhat a victim of its own success), Obama could announce some initiatives that could help stem the losses. I'd like President Obama to offer his support to Congress' plans to lift the four-decade-old oil export ban, which would provide additional customers for US oil and give our allies a friendly source to meet their needs. Likewise, he could call on the Department of Energy to expedite approval of applications for liquefied natural gas export terminals — something a new Senate bill proposes."

Lee Lane

Visiting Fellow, Hudson Institute; Outside Consultant, NERA Economic Consulting

"The uncertain and possibly unstable world oil price regime greatly amplifies the need to reduce wasteful regulatory burdens on the oil logistics system. When crude oil prices were high, US drillers could live with some wasteful laws and mandates, including some that applied to how and where they shipped oilfield inputs and outputs. Wasteful policies harmed them but would not put them out of business. That is changing... Unfortunately, Keystone is not alone as a source of waste in US crude oil logistics. The strict curbs on US crude oil exports are at least as bad. Since the end of oil price controls in 1981, this restriction has lacked even a pretense of a policy rationale; meanwhile, the onshore oil boom has greatly hiked the costs of the export ban... The present is a golden moment for ending the export ban."

Thomas E. Donilon

Vice Chair, O'Melveny & Myers; Senior Director, BlackRock Investment Institute; Distinguished Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Former National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama

"...lifting the ban in full is the correct policy decision for the following five reasons ... First, the rationale for the ban is no longer relevant ... Second, lifting the ban is consistent with the United States' long-standing advocacy for free trade and open markets ... Third, lifting the ban will enhance America's energy security ... Fourth, crude exports will provide diplomatic leverage and a tool to assist our allies and friends ... Fifth, the current low price environment does not resolve the issue. Lifting the ban will advance our economy, our energy future, and our foreign policy and national security goals. It is the next step in leveraging our energy posture to protect and to enhance U.S. leadership for years to come."

Joel Moser

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Aquamarine Investment Partners;

"The quest for both economic growth and energy independence are powerful forces that drive decision making by the US government to support both conventional and unconventional energy production... Eliminating the US oil export ban is long overdue, and it makes great sense."

David J. Porter

Commissioner, Railroad Commission of Texas

"Our country's energy abundance is a strong geopolitical tool, and it's time for the policymakers in Washington, DC, to demand that we use this opportunity to our strategic advantage when it comes to facing down oppressive and authoritarian regimes like Russia and Venezuela. By doing so, we provide our friends and allies around the world with an alternative source of oil while creating jobs and opportunity here at home... The United States is undeniably a global super power—except when it comes to energy. And it's not because we don't have the resources... To fully realize the benefits of this domestic energy renaissance, Washington must end this 1970s-era prohibition so that the US can finally cement its status as the global energy superpower we know it can be. After all, it's the hardworking men and women of this country who stand to benefit the most."

Chris Tomlinson

Business Columnist, Houston Chronicle

"The US oil supply is at one of the highest levels ever; it's time to start selling it... The time has come to let the US oil companies and refiners compete on the open market without any more coddling from Congress. If we believe in free markets, then we should let this one open up."

Ron Ness

President, North Dakota Petroleum Council

"Thanks to major advances in technology in the Bakken and shale plays across the nation, US oil production has surged to more than 10% of the world's total. We're less reliant on foreign energy than ever before, and production is still rising. As a result, we've become a net exporter of refined petroleum products for the first time in over 60 years. This great rise in production have lifted the US from an era of energy scarcity to an era of energy abundance. We have an opportunity to become an energy superpower. Instead, we find ourselves in a price war with countries we've allowed to monopolize the global markets. OPEC has clearly seen the potential and have chosen to price us out of business. Lifting the export ban would enhance our ability to compete with OPEC in the global market and take away their ability to manipulate oil prices... But, we're not just talking energy security. There are other benefits, too – namely jobs, economic growth and lower energy prices – that would come from lifting the export ban... It's clear that allowing domestic energy producers, like those here in the Bakken, to sell crude oil on the world market would greatly benefit our state and our nation. Let's tell Congress it's time to repeal the ban on crude oil exports."

Raymond J. Keating

Chief Economist, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council)

"Looking ahead, huge opportunities for US entrepreneurs, businesses and workers can be found in the international marketplace. That is, business and employment growth related to domestic energy production can be expanded further through natural gas (via liquefied natural gas, or LNG) exports, as well as crude oil exports, to meet growing global energy demands... If the president is serious about getting the US economy and job creation moving, and about the US being a true global energy leader, he can work with the new Congress to end the 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports, and to dramatically streamline the long, bureaucratic process of getting LNG export facilities approved. Such policy steps make economic sense, and would be good news for America's entrepreneurs and small businesses that work in, support and benefit from the domestic energy sector."

J. Michael Barrett

Principal, Diligent Innovations; Former Director of Strategy, White House Homeland Security Council

"Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the rest of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have recently launched a price war with the specific purpose of forcing Americans back to a dangerous dependency on foreign energy, and they are being aided by an outdated US policy prohibiting the export of domestic crude oil... The best way for American legislators to combat OPEC's aggression is to lift this ban. Scrapping this outdated policy will secure American progress toward energy independence... The cartel believes that American energy firms will break under pressure... Congress can strengthen our domestic economy while countering these plans. It should lift the ban on crude oil exports – a relic of the 1973 oil embargo. Free of the ban, domestic firms could sell oil to the many overseas buyers eager to reduce their own energy dependence on unstable, autocratic regimes, thus reducing the power of OPEC to maintain a throttle on U.S. and global oil supplies."

Phil Kerpin

Head, American Commitment

"... every single serious study has found ... allowing crude exports would lower prices at the pum... \The oil and gas sector has been the US economy's brightest bright spot in recent years, but the glut of crude oil is holding back an even bigger boom. We are leaving oil in the ground because of the export ban. It's a self-defeating and destructive policy that hurts America while benefiting rivals abroad."

Stephen Blank

Senior Fellow for Russia, American Foreign Policy Council

"For years, Putin has used his nation's oil and gas resources as a club to bully his adversaries... But now a slump in global oil prices has brought Russia's economy to the brink of collapse. The ruble is having its worst year since 1998. The country's inflation rate is rising along with unemployment... Oil and gas constitute 68% of Russia's total exports and half its federal budget. By quickly expanding America's energy exports, federal officials can deliver another blow to Russian aggression and firmly tilt the balance of power away from the Kremlin ... If US producers were allowed to export excess energy to foreign markets, they'd undercut Russia's key source of leverage and strengthen America's ties to her allies. Most American oil would probably go to Asia. That would free up Middle Eastern producers to send more to Europe, offsetting the continent's dependence on Russian energy and deepening the economic impact of sanctions... With the United States well on its way to becoming a net energy exporter, the logic behind the crude export ban is clearly outdated."

The Republican Editorials

masslive.com

"Do some of those who back continuation of a ban on the export of oil from the United States still have 8-track players in their cars? Do they still wear bell-bottoms? ... If so, there'd be a sort of logical consistency at work, as their views on oil exports are mired completely in 1970s-style thinking... An awful lot has changed since the disco days. Yet the export ban remains in place... The oil export ban is a 1970s anachronism that should have no more place in today's world than rotary phones."

The Leaders Column

The Economist

"Most of the time, economic policymaking is about tinkering at the edges. Politicians argue furiously about modest changes to taxes or spending. Once in a while, however, momentous shifts are possible... Such a once-in-a-generation opportunity exists today... In the name of security of supply, governments should be encouraging the growth of seamless global energy markets. Scrapping unfair obstacles to energy investments is just as important as dispensing with subsidies. The more cross-border pipelines and power cables the better. America should approve Keystone XL and lift its export restrictions, while European politicians should make it much easier to exploit the oil and gas in the shale beneath their feet... So our message to politicians is a simple one. Seize the day."

Rebecca Quintanilla

Director, North American Business Development, Mercuria Energy Trading

"Now is the time for the US to allow crude oil exports to Mexico. We have the type of crude Mexico wants to import, and if they don't import it from the US they will import it from elsewhere. Certainly the United States would benefit from the flow of money back into our economy instead of allowing other countries to claim the profit... The president should take immediate action to allow U.S. crude oil exports to Mexico because it is consistent with our national interests, and it is the right thing to do."

Jazz Shaw

Weekend Editor, Hot Air

"Lifting the ban is the right thing to do, but the usual rounds of panic politics combined with environmental alarmists who oppose anything to do with American energy independence are going to fight this and will probably succeed in stopping it... That's a pity, because the people they were elected to serve will be the ones who pay for their shortsighted position."

James M. Griffin

Professor and Bob Bullock Chair in Public Policy and Finance, Texas A&M University

"[If Congress and President Barack Obama are committed to free trade, striking down the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975 should be] a no brainer... It's something that the new Congress and the president ought to be able to agree on... They both claim that they support free trade. Here's a really good example of a case where we're not promoting free trade like we claim."

Orange County Register

"Some suggest that lifting the ban on US oil exports, as Rep. Barton proposes, would reduce the supply of oil on the domestic market and put upward pressure on pump prices... But the EIA released a study in October in which it concluded that US gasoline prices would be unaffected if US oil exports were allowed. That's because the price US motorist pay at the pump is determined not by US oil producers, but by the global market... We agree with the Texas lawmaker that the 40-year ban on US crude exports should be repealed. It would be at once good for the US economy and good for national security."

Karen Kerrigan

President and Chief Executive Officer, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council

"The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) is pleased to support H.R. 5814, a bill that lifts the 40-year ban on the export of crude oil from the United States... The US is in the midst of a historic energy revolution, and it is being led by small businesses and entrepreneurs. Where entrepreneurship overall remains flat in the US, it is booming in the energy sector. Lifting the 40-year ban on crude oil exports will sustain the energy sector's growth, and create additional jobs and business opportunities for workers and entrepreneurs."

Anna Mikulska

Research Analyst, Center for Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy

"[Permitting crude export] is a viable option that could potentially mitigate the harmful effect of lower prices on the US producers in the long term, while having no real effect on US consumers, thus preserving the "price at the pump" benefits of lower oil prices... With the price of oil declining, removing the ban on exports could offer a healthier long term view to US oil producers and attract capital into the US upstream sector. Moreover, analysis has indicated that such a policy shift would have no impact on the price of gasoline... Allowing oil/condensate exports could not only ameliorate concerns to domestic producers, but could also help push the US economy towards a more energy secure future."

Jeremy M. Martin

Director, Energy Program, Institute of the Americas

"There are minor exceptions to the current ban on crude exports, but they only account for small amounts of oil. But against the backdrop of the US energy revolution and booming shale oil production, there is a strong impetus to lift the ban, particularly if the US wants to convince the world that it truly supports free trade in energy. Indeed, recent exports of condensates point to the reality that companies will find ways to move the US energy bonanza to markets outside the US... Those efforts should be allowed and supported, not made the exception to the international energy trade rule."

Alexis Arthur

Energy Policy Associate, Institute of the Americas

"There are minor exceptions to the current ban on crude exports, but they only account for small amounts of oil. But against the backdrop of the US energy revolution and booming shale oil production, there is a strong impetus to lift the ban, particularly if the US wants to convince the world that it truly supports free trade in energy. Indeed, recent exports of condensates point to the reality that companies will find ways to move the US energy bonanza to markets outside the US... Those efforts should be allowed and supported, not made the exception to the international energy trade rule."

Alex Mills

President, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers

"Oil production has grown more in the United States over the past five years than anywhere else in the world. With these changes has come a widening gap among the types of oil that US fields produce, the types that US refiners need, the products that US consumers want, and the infrastructure in place to transport the oil... Allowing companies to export US crude oil as the market dictates would help solve this mismatch... Removing all proscriptions on crude oil exports will strengthen the US economy and promote the efficient development of the country's energy sector... Today's export restrictions run the risk of dampening US crude oil production over time by forcing down prices at the wellhead in some parts of the country. It would also encourage investment in oil and gas production in the United States rather than abroad. In oil-producing regions, more workers would be hired for oil exploration and production, as well as for local service industries. Greater policy certainty regarding exports would also catalyze the expansion of US energy infrastructure... Allowing crude oil exports will increase US energy security and enhance US foreign policy. It would demonstrate Washington's commitment to free and fair trade, and bolster its negotiating position on other trade issues."

The Boston Globe

"The current ban on exporting oil has done pretty much nothing to help everyday consumers, but it has enriched refineries. There is no longer a convincing justification for this outdated policy... The current policy takes from Big Oil and gives to refineries, but serves no public purpose."

Jared Meyer

Fellow, Economics21 at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

"In 2014, the crude oil export ban finally received the negative attention it deserves. This antiquated law makes it is illegal to export U.S. crude oil without special permission from the Bureau of Industry and Security. With the exception of exports to Canada, permission is rarely granted. In a country that is in the midst of groundbreaking free trade negotiations and an energy renaissance, the existence of the protectionist crude oil export ban makes little sense—especially when it is perfectly legal to export refined oil."

Thomas Tunstall, PhD

Research Director, Institute for Economic Development, University of Texas San Antonio

"It doesn't seem to make sense that we can export refined products and we can export natural gas, but we can't export crude oil."

Bob Tippee

Editor, Oil & Gas Journal

"The Department of Commerce office that licenses oil exports proposed a clarification in a Dec. 30 [2014] move hailed in early press reports as an opening of gates to a flood of exports... That interpretation goes too far...The guidelines address one problem, confusion, without solving it while a larger problem, light-oil supply exceeding nearby need, remains in place... The simple solution? Make tricky distinctions irrelevant by allowing the export of all liquid hydrocarbons."

Lee Fuller

Vice President, Government Relations, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA)

"The jobs from crude oil development benefit the country... Those could be at risk if you're not able to export crude oil, and that risk is probably more visible with the drop in prices than it was six months ago."

Paul Ausick

Senior Editor, 24/7 Wall St.

"Without actually saying the words, the US Department of Commerce on Tuesday [Dec. 30, 2014] made clear that the US ban on crude oil exports has been lifted. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) said that it has approved requests by some companies to export lightly refined condensates and it has outlined how it will treat further requests for permission to export oil... This is not exactly news... The news is that the agency has spelled out for the first time (in an FAQ of all places) what the rules are... Why now after months of dithering around? Could it be that the Obama administration has figured out that exporting near-crude is more likely to keep crude oil costs low than it is to raise them? If US crude from shale plays in North Dakota can get into the international market, and the Bakken producers can keep their costs under control, the United States may be able to take a bit of market share away from the Saudis."

Richard L. Burleson

Managing Partner, Burleson LLP

"As 2014 drew to a close, and concerns continued to swirl about the ongoing effects of falling crude prices, there was a bright spot last week for the energy industry – coming, of all places, out of Washington... On Dec. 30, the US Commerce Department published guidelines that clearly defined condensate not as a crude oil but as a petroleum product, which "are subject to few export restrictions." ...It's hard to predict whether this is a barometer of things to come or a stand-alone policy decision. About the only thing consistent about this administration's energy policy has been its inconsistency. But it could reflect a sense in Washington that lifting the export ban in entirety is a smart move that respects current global market realities... The energy industry has played a major role in the US recovery over the past few years, and those contributions could to some degree be threatened by the uncertain price climate. Government needs to do what is necessary to help keep this engine of economic opportunity running. Lifting the ban on condensates is certainly a step in that direction. Now it's time to do the same for all crude exports."

L. Todd Wood

Contributor, Moscow Times, Fox Business, and NewsmaxTV

"With the price of crude collapsing in a confluence of weak demand and oversupply, the Obama administration should be giving American industry every advantage to gain market share and prevent giving the oil cartel, OPEC, another advantage over the United States. Ending the oil export ban seems like a no-brainer... Most likely, it will take a more "America first" administration to remove this archaic ban on energy exports. With the price of oil in the dumps, we should allow our own companies to do whatever is necessary to protect American energy security. What America doesn't need is the Saudis forcing a large percentage of our own producers out of the business due to low prices. This is a bridge too far for the Obama administration."

Bill Richardson

Former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Clinton Administration

"[...The US oil and gas industry could benefit even more if it could supply foreign countries. But it can't do that until the US government completely lifts its oil export ban.] I do believe the Obama administration is going to move towards opening up those markets, and it's the right decision... That's our bread and butter. Stick to your bread and butter, but expand the base."

Oil & Gas Journal

"The US should scrap its antique prohibition against the export of domestically produced crude oil. The sole argument for retaining the export ban is unsound. Perhaps unwittingly, it also conspires with anti-oil politics impeding another important element of North American petroleum logistics."

Arthur Berman

Geological Consultant

"I do not support the ban on exporting crude oil but it is the law. Congress should debate the law and vote whether to keep or repeal the law. The Department of Commerce has given the oil companies a "wink" letting them know it would be OK to export their light oil if they just call it something else. Isn't it illegal to advise people how to get away with breaking the law? ... Obama clearly favors taking a regulatory approach to complex problems instead of the more cumbersome process of passing or repealing laws. It is wrong to offer oil companies a regulatory solution that borders on illegality when it would be right to debate the Energy Policy and Conservation Act and reach a clear course of action."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

Marianne Kah

Chief Economist, ConocoPhillips

"I would say the current circumstances increase the urgency of getting rid of this ban... The first group to benefit is really the American consumer."

Robert McNally

Executive Director, National Association of Royalty Owners

"The reasons for the ban are no longer relevant, and by keeping it in place, we are actually making the US less competitive and energy supplies less secure – the opposite of its intended effect... Now, with the recent and rapid increase in domestic US oil and natural gas production, it is time for Congress to lift the ban on US crude oil exports... The choice America faces is simple: We can keep exporting more US dollars abroad to import more oil. Or we can lift the oil-export ban, and in the process benefit from the additional energy, jobs, tax revenue and economic growth that comes with it."

Michael Hinton

Chief Customer Officer and Senior Vice President, Products and Solutions, Allegro Development Corporation

"With so much to gain, regulators and politicians are finding it harder to side with the status quo. Americans generally want more jobs, disposable income and economic growth, not to mention national security through reduced dependence on foreign oil. Relaxing - if not completely repealing - the crude export ban, could mean more for everyone, including oil companies who stand to make a handsome profit off a rapidly expanding global energy economy."

Keith Kohl

Managing Editor, Energy and Capital

"Some reports have estimated that if the oil export ban were lifted next year, the US would be able to export nearly 3 million barrels per day in 2015... Personally, I don't think it's a question of if but rather when the United States will lift its four-decade ban on crude oil exports... Once the ban is lifted, however – and US producers in the Lower 48 have access to global oil markets – the sky is the limit... Mark my words: 2015 will be the year US tight oil goes global."

Chris John

President, Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association

"The shale development boom across the United States is changing our country's energy landscape as US crude oil output soars to a 31-year high and oil imports continue to steadily decline. Lifting the 1970s era crude oil export ban would allow this boom to continue while lowering energy costs for consumers and increasing tax revenues for local governments. "

B. Ashok

Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

"We are indeed looking forward to US crude coming into the market."

Chang Woo Seck

Head of Corporate Planning Office, SK Innovation

"[The lifting of the ban on US oil exports] will substantially reduce the cost of bringing crude [to South Korea]"

Stuart Elliott

Associate Editorial Director, Platts

"If the ban on US crude exports were to be lifted, the global oil market would be transformed. The US would profit from less isolated production and the global oil market - currently vulnerable to the volatile situations developing in the Middle East - would benefit from stability and predictability."

Sen. John Hoeven

R-ND

"[While the drop in prices] will slow [production] down in some areas [the main, larger projects] should be fine... [The pressure on oil prices makes] it even more important that we pass the kind of legislation that helps our energy industry compete in the global economy... [The price tumble] does help [strengthen the arguments in favor of lifting the crude oil export ban] because of this imbalance between light and heavy [crude] and it is about making our domestic industry more competitive."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

John R. Auers, P.E.

Executive Vice President, Turner, Mason & Company

"If production continues to grow and you still limit the ability to export crude, you will get to a day of reckoning when you can't consume the crude."

Mark W. Hendrickson

Economist and Fellow for Economic and Social Policy, The Center for Vision & Values, Grove City College

"The 1970s-era federal restrictions on oil exports may soon come back to bite us... Oil markets are global; so the more crude that hits the global market, the lower the price of crude oil (hence, the prices of gasoline, kerosene, diesel, heating oil, etc.) will fall. The last time I checked, cheaper prices for needed products help working families."

Fadel Gheit

Managing Director and Senior Analyst, Oil and Gas sector, Oppenheimer

"We have had a ban on oil export for 40 years. By just saying we will lift the ban I guarantee you that oil prices will come down, it will hurt Putin, it will help the global economy and it will definitely put Russia in a very weak spot."

Mark J. Perry, Scholar

American Enterprise Institute; Professor of Economics and Finance, University of Michigan

"In 2012, US oil production grew by 1 million barrels a day - faster than in any other country in the world... This surge in energy production has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, pumped tens of billions of dollars into the economy and given new life to American manufacturing, which is supplying the steel, cement, equipment and machinery to drill thousands of new oil and gas wells each year... We're quickly running out of refining capacity to handle new shale oil production. If we don't lift our ban on oil exports - a relic of the Arab oil embargo and Iranian Revolution in the 1970s - we run the risk of capping production and impeding our own economic growth."

Patrick Hedger

Policy Director, American Encore

"Federal law makes it illegal for American companies to sell all that crude oil overseas, even to our allies. How does that make any sense?... The honest answer is that it doesn't... In the 21st Century, Americans are still suffering under the misguided energy policies of the 1970s for no discernible reason. It's time that we embrace America's ability to dominate the global oil market and let the American people benefit from it next time they go fill up."

Vikram Rao

Executive Director, Research Triangle Energy Consortium (RTEC)

"The oil export ban is an anachronism and needs to be lifted. The original energy security beliefs no longer hold water. We are fast approaching the point at which domestic production augmented with that of the near neighbors Canada and Mexico will serve the bulk of our oil needs ... Exporting oil is good for the economy and a potentially important political gesture at a time when European allies are needed to combat the latest threat in the Middle East."

Sen. John Barrasso

R-WY; Chairman, Senate Republican Party Policy Committee

"I think lifting this ban will help create a better market for oil from Wyoming and North Dakota... I think it will create jobs and help local economies."

Erika Johnsen

Former Associate Editor, Hot Air

"It will take an act of Congress to move the outward flow of unrefined oil products anywhere beyond a very small trickle, but I'm glad to see the Obama administration actually follow through somewhat on its stated promise to free up US exports – and one which, however infinitesimally at this stage, could boost our wealth- and job-creating capabilities... While opponents of lifting the crude oil export ban often argue that doing so will push the prices that US consumers pay at the pump higher, the reality is that releasing more supply into the global market could actually exert downward pressure on those prices... If this condensate export approval can lead by example on that front, then all the better for the entire crude-oil export debate."

Julia Bell

Manager of Industry & Public Affairs, The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA)

"The time has come to expand oil exports... This is an oil era of abundance and opportunity. That's why it's time to revisit and repeal the crude export ban... Allowing for a freer oil market will boost American job creation, grow our economy, and secure our energy future."

Chris Faulkner

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Breitling Energy

"American energy producers are eager to sell to foreign markets. Federal regulators should let them. The crude oil ban is a damaging law from a bygone era. It's stifling industry expansion. Doing away with the ban will lead to more jobs, investment and growth here at home."

William D. Nordhaus

Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University

"You have a really valuable resource sitting there, whether it's in Texas or North Dakota or wherever... It's something that people will pay a lot of money for, but there's no way to get it out [and into the global marketplace.]"

Marlo Lewis, Jr.

Senior Fellow, Center for Energy and Environment, Competitive Enterprise Institute

"Nix the Export Ban... Defenders of the status quo claim that repealing the ban will increase US gasoline prices. In the very short run: maybe or maybe not. The more lasting effect, though, will be to increase investment in exploration and production. That will contribute to global crude oil supply, putting downward pressure on global crude oil prices - the principal factor determining gasoline prices."

Phil Flynn

Senior Energy Analyst, The PRICE Futures Group

"It is time to lift the oil export ban. The boom in US oil production has to change the mindset about our energy policy to better reflect the realities of today instead of the fears of the past... This is a new era in the US of oil production, one of abundance and security, not one of desperation and fear."

K. Earl Reynolds

President and Chief Operating Officer, Chaparral Energy

"We think the business case for allowing exports is very compelling... We want to be able to sell our crude oil in more than one market, the same way producers of coal or other commodities can now ... I think with more crude on the market, gasoline prices would go down."

Mat-Su (AK) Valley Frontiersman

"The analysis by energy consultant IHS makes the case that the ban is a remnant of a bygone global oil market that bears little resemblance to the market of today. The United States, once a weakened oil producer, now finds itself - rather abruptly - as a rejuvenated supplier of oil... By ending the export ban, Congress and the president could achieve a few things noted in the IHS report: Increase oil production further; drive down gasoline prices by 8 to 12 cents per gallon; create anywhere from about 400,000 to 860,000 jobs; increase government revenue by up to $2.8 trillion; and increase annual gross domestic product by up to $170 billion ... So let's get on with it."

Reid Porter

Spokesman, American Petroleum Institute (API)

"Supporting the free market and supporting open trade is a key priority for our industry... It creates efficiencies, creates jobs and increases revenue to our government."

Robert Bradley, Jr.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Energy Research

"A triple-win awaits repeal of the 39-year-old federal ban on U.S. crude oil exports. Consumers would receive lower gasoline and diesel prices from global refining efficiencies. Domestic producers would receive (higher) world prices from new markets and in turn, increase production. The broader economy would benefit from increased activity all around... Today, the oil-export ban is a policy without a purpose - and distortive of natural market incentives at home and abroad... It is time for the visible hand of markets to replace the dead hand of a regulatory past. The US and world oil markets have changed, and US-side public policies must too."

William O'Grady

Executive Vice President and Chief Market Strategist, Confluence Investment Management

"It actually gives us a bit more geopolitical clout by being able to export... If we want this industry to continue to expand, lifting this export ban is one of the things we're going to have to do to make sure that expansion takes place."

Jason Bordoff

Professor, Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Director, Center on Global Energy Policy

"The oil export ban was put in place to address scarcity concerns and keep US producers from bypassing price controls by selling oil for a higher price abroad. Now, with US output soaring and price controls jettisoned decades ago, it is time to lift that restriction... The current statutory restrictions on oil exports are a legacy of a bygone era that doesn't reflect today's energy reality. On economic, security and geopolitical grounds, they should be lifted."

Jack Rafuse

Principal, Rafuse Organization

"OPEC and Russia benefit most by our non-export policies, and have for years. Russia uses its oil and natural gas resource and its monopoly on natural gas exports to Central Europe, to exercise political power over trading partners. And Russia has opposed US exports of LNG and crude - saying that export will harm the US environment. How nice of them to worry about us... As to our trading partners, our massive new resources are already working to reduce overseas LNG prices, and are starting to do the same with oil prices... The pros of lifting the crude oil (and the LNG) export bans far outweigh the cons, which are due either to a misguided desire to end all fossil fuel now, or a worry that any change leads to bad things."

William O'Keefe

Chief Executive Officer, Marshall Institute

"The ban on exporting crude oil without a license was a knee-jerk reaction to the first oil embargo in 1973. It made no economic or energy policy sense then and makes even less today... A failure to lift the export ban will eventually lead to less investment in domestic production and infrastructure improvements, because prices will be artificially suppressed and production companies will be able to get higher returns elsewhere... For the most part, those who oppose allowing crude exports are those who benefit economically from artificially depressed prices. What they gain economically is offset by the economic losses from lost investment opportunities."

Jason Stverak

President, Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity

"America's place in the global energy market is radically different than it was 40 years ago, but Congress is still adhering to some of the protectionist policies put in place during the 1970s oil crisis. With America now a leader in energy production, it's time to open up the world markets to American crude and take advantage of our economic and geopolitical position of strength."

Andrew Wheeler

Principal, Energy and Environment Practice Group, FaegreBD Consulting

"Just a few short years ago, no one would have guessed that the United States would be in a position to consider lifting its restrictions on exports of crude oil, but the US suddenly finds itself once again as an energy superpower... Our access to new reserves is also decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and making energy prices - and American consumers - less vulnerable to the whims of geopolitics... We can bury our heads in the sand and base decisions on 1970s technologies and geopolitics, or we can wake up and deal with the issue in today's world of increased US production and reserves and new technologies."

Michael E. Canes, PhD

President, United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE)

"We can think of this as a tax on US imports. By restricting crude oil exports, particularly those of light sweet crude oils which are in surplus in the US, we tax ourselves in the form of higher prices for imported goods. Domestic oil producers earn (and produce) less while consumers of imported goods pay more. Doesn't sound like a very good deal to me. Time to reexamine the policy and loosen US crude oil export restraints forthwith."

Denise Bode

Principal, Cornerstone Government Affairs

"Lift the ban on American oil exports and give America global market power, real leverage. By allowing exports even as it continues importing oil, the U.S. can exercise maximum flexibility in world oil markets. It can keep U.S. oil flowing, encouraging further exploration and drilling. And it can help maintain relatively stable gasoline prices, because these are largely determined by world markets."

Mackubin Owens

Editor, Orbis

"With the United States poised to become the largest producer of oil in the world, global oil prices have begun to fall, much to the dismay of Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia... The time has come to leverage this development by repealing the outdated laws dating from the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s... Sound economic analysis suggest that lifting the ban on exporting crude oil would actually help to lower the domestic price of refined products by creating a more efficient system for distributing and refining oil... Lifting the ban on US crude oil exports will also intensify the change in the geopolitical landscape created by fracking and horizontal drilling by making it more difficult, if not impossible, for one country to manipulate regional energy supplies, as Russia has been doing in Eastern and Central Europe."

Nathan Randazzo

Columnist, Oil & Gas IQ

"It is still too soon to tell what will be the full effects the falling oil and gas prices will have on the US shale revolution and economy, but perhaps now is the time to finally reverse the crude oil export ban to allow the US to compete on the global market... This could potentially offset geopolitical efforts that are threatening America's economic bright spot and generate more stable crude oil prices that benefit both US consumers and producers."

Edward Cross

President, Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association (KIOGA)

"For the first time in generations, surging domestic oil and natural gas production is driving our energy security and providing a crucial buffer against disruptions in Europe, Africa and the Middle East... We also must work quickly to solidify our role as an energy superpower by modernizing trade restrictions that prevent US oil from reaching global markets."

The (Oklahoma City, OK) Oklahoman

"Domestic supplies are now abundant. The export ban is beyond obsolete. It's time to open the spigots."

Peter Bruce

Editor-in-Chief, BDFM

"America now offers us another opportunity to act for our future. Not only is it recovering economically, but it is (or soon will be) the biggest oil producer in the world. Thanks to shale gas and oil and advances in fracking technology, it is entirely independent of fuel imports. Even more interesting is that US law forbids the export of oil. That will change, and when it does, the US economy will be immensely strong."

Thomas J. Donohue

President and Chief Executive Officer, US Chamber of Commerce

"I want to lift the ban. I just want to get it done in a reasonable sequence... It is going to happen."

John Aziz

Associate Editor, Pieria

"This archaic, dysfunctional law is just hurting the economy without really providing any national security benefit... Time to say goodbye to it."

Steven Rattner

Chairman, Willet Advisors LLC

"America's renewed hydrocarbon boom could be even more robust if we eased outdated restrictions on shipping both crude oil and liquefied natural gas overseas... If the export ban were lifted completely, the price of crude oil in the United States would rise to the global price (adjusted for transportation costs and differences in quality), but the price of gasoline at the pump wouldn't change... Yes, the higher price of crude oil would mean more profits for producers; more important, it would encourage drilling. That means more production, more jobs, and less reliance on imports and an improvement in our trade balance."

Ken Cohen

Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, Exxon Mobil Corporation

"We are not dealing with an era of scarcity, we are dealing with a situation of abundance... We need to rethink the regulatory scheme and the statutory scheme on the books."

Ryan Olson

Research Associate, Center for Trade and Economics (CTE), The Heritage Foundation

"Limiting exports of crude oil discourages energy exploration in the United States... Export limitations also discourage production because they cause a domestic surplus... The US government has long been reluctant to export its energy resources - from its historic bans on crude oil to recent foot dragging on natural gas. Yet exports have long been touted as a way to grow our economy out of the current recession. What better way to do this than by allowing one of our most promising industries to take advantage of billions of global energy consumers?"

FTI Consulting and Sidley Austin LLP

"What is needed to combat opponents and to change the narrative is an explanation of why oil exports are good for the United States and its citizens. This means explaining - at both the national and local levels - the benefits of free trade, the positive impacts on jobs and economic growth, the contributions to government revenues (and) the geopolitical influence that would accrue to the US by exporting oil ... Perhaps most important, it must be stressed that, when it comes to exports, oil is just like any other important commodity - whether it be cars, corn, or chemicals."

Kristin Thomas

Vice President - Public Relations, Continental Resources

"We are attempting to get light, sweet to the refineries that are configured for it... Our belief is that the market for light, sweet crude extends beyond the borders of the US, and as such, there is a need for lifting the ban."

Tim Guinness

Chief Investment Officer and Fund Manager; Will Riley

"The Ukraine-Russia crisis, as well as Russia's position as a major energy provider, has renewed the discussion on whether the US should export crude oil. A forty-year-old decree bans US producers from exporting crude oil, and it needs to be repealed. It represents misguided protectionism and is a hangover from the days before the US embraced free trade. We think that exporting crude oil would be an economic benefit to the US, as it incentivises the full development of the US shale resource."

Editorial Board, The Washington Post

"If anything, the United States' continuing export restrictions diminish the country's credibility when it asks other nations to adopt rational policies that rankle economic nationalists. Congress should let the country participate fully in the international oil market."

Benjamin Brown

Communications Coordinator, Capital City Republicans

"Perhaps because the export ban was passed in a spirit of promoting national security, many in Washington avoid the issue of its repeal, in spite of the fact that it makes perfect sense. While the export ban tends to depress prices for sellers, it can also deny access to these goods for those who most need to buy them. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's ability to bully the European Union due to the strength of his hydrocarbon export position is part of what made possible the Crimean annexation and the shadowy Ukraine invasions; Europe suffers as American oil is kept artificially off of the market. Lifting the export ban not only means more jobs for Americans and revenue for Alaska, but also will undercut other nations' misguided hegemonic policies."

Zachary Cikanek

Spokesperson, American Petroleum Institute

"Policymakers can help keep America's energy momentum strong by turning aside unnecessary regulations and opening access to federal lands and foreign markets... Duplicative regulations and 70s-era trade restrictions limit our growth as an energy superpower, and that's exactly what our competitors want."

Rob Port

Editor, SayAnythingBlog.com

"One problem with America's domestic oil and gas markets is that the refiners basically have a captive audience. With few exceptions, American oil and gas producers cannot ship their unrefined product abroad for sale. It must be sold to refiners here in the US before export. That's a tremendous boon for the refineries, but it severely restricts that market American oil and gas producers can access... So open it up. Allow the export of unrefined oil and gas to meet international demand. An expanded market would, again, help put American oil and gas producers on an even footing with OPEC."

Rep. Gene Green

D-TX

"The LNG should go first because of the amount, and it's an environmental issue, in South Texas we're still flaring production and natural gas... That will show the success, and on a reasonable basis we can even export crude oil."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

John S. Watson

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Chevron Corporation

"[The company is a] strong supporter [of allowing exports of both crude and natural gas] ... The U.S. is a free trade nation, and we shouldn't be seen as hoarding resources."

Scott. D. Sheffield

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pioneer Natural Resources

"Continuing to ban crude oil exports will not reduce either global demand or production of crude oil ... Eliminating the ban, however, will help ensure that more global production will occur in the U.S., fully subject to U.S. safety and environmental regulations."

Michael Hsueh

Strategist, Deutsche Bank

"We would not expect that a lifting of the ban tomorrow would immediately trigger a large volume of oil exports ... The most important benefit of a relaxation of export restrictions would not be to release pent-up export supply, but rather ease the introduction of future domestic supply growth."

Rhonda I. Zygocki

Executive Vice President, Policy and Planning, Chevron Corporation

"We fully support the elimination of the ban on crude exports. We believe the long-term interests of the U.S. are best served by exports. The very parameters that led to the export ban are being challenged."

Mark Green

Editor, API–Energy Tomorrow

"It's our choice. By choosing American energy - increasing domestic oil and natural gas production by opening access to new reserves and allowing exports to friendly buyers overseas - the United States can affect world energy supplies in positive ways - providing domestic benefits, helping allies and countering the energy leverage of others abroad."

Mark Maddox

Contributor, The Hill; former acting Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

"One matter I would put at the top of the "must do" list is a review of the administration's current policy regarding oil exports... Obstructing oil exports has put the United States at the mercy of its global competitors, allowing them to dictate our energy security and undermine our oil production while they protect their market share and engage in predatory pricing."

Mark P. Mills

Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute; Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Digital Power Capital

"The time has come to revoke the 40-year-old law's ban on oil exports. Such action would open up world markets to all of the small, mid-sized, and large American oil companies (not merely the occasional few that win Washington's regulatory lottery), unleashing yet more production, generating billions of dollars of tax revenues, creating millions more jobs, and reshaping global geopolitics."

Arjun Sreekumar

Contributor, The Motley Fool

"Overall, the IHS study – and several other studies like it – suggests that lifting the 40-year ban on crude exports would be a net positive for the U.S. economy. Benefits including higher domestic oil production, reduced petroleum imports, job growth, lower domestic gasoline prices, and higher government revenues should easily offset the negative impact on U.S. refiners. Personally, I think a piecemeal lifting of the export ban would probably be in the nation's best interest."

Nicolas Loris

Economist, Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation

"While the U.S. will likely remain an important supplier of crude oil long into the future, the long-standing statutory ban on exporting crude oil, in combination with production outpacing refineries' ability to process the crude, will limit America's economic potential and cause a decline of otherwise viable drilling... Expanding market opportunities will not just benefit oil companies. By opening the door to establish more efficient global oil markets, all Americans will reap the benefits of lower prices and a stronger economy."

Jeffrey Kupfer

Bernard Schwartz Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute

"A ban that may have made sense in the time of cassette tapes and rotary phones is now clearly outdated and counterproductive. Forty years is long enough. It is time to show the world that America is ready to do business."

Samuel A. Van Vactor, Ph.D.

President, Economic Insight, Inc.

"Given the massive costs and paltry benefits of the oil export ban, Congress should immediately act to free the Alaskan oil trade and repeal the prohibition on oil exports."

Donald A. Norman, Ph.D.

Director of Economic Studies, MAPI

"It makes sense to export lighter oil to markets where it is more highly valued because it can command a premium price... This will provide additional incentive for U.S. producers to develop domestic resources."

Michael D. Plante

Senior Research Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

"If the export ban were not in place, large and persistent discounts would not occur because surplus oil would flow away from the Gulf to destinations where it would fetch a higher price and U.S. crude prices would eventually rise to global levels... Landowners who collect royalty payments and governments that tax oil production would benefit from higher crude prices... U.S. consumers also stand to gain from lower retail fuel prices... With greater amounts of oil available globally, more gasoline and diesel would be produced, reducing their prices and benefiting U.S. consumers."

Robert J. Samuelson

Columnist, The Washington Post

"By all logic, we should be working to sustain the [oil] boom. We aren't, and therein lies a classic example of how good policy is held hostage to bad politics and public relations. What would promote continued exploration is a lifting of the current U.S. ban on exporting crude oil. Let producers sell into the world market... Benefits are huge. Surging U.S. production has created thousands of jobs, helped stabilize global oil markets and curbed our import dependence. From 2008 to 2014, net imports dropped about 50 percent."

Bud Weinstein

Associate Director, Maguire Energy Institute

"The current ban on exporting American oil is nonsensical... America is an energy-rich country, the richest in the world. We need to stop acting as though we're energy poor."

Shelley Goldberg

Commodity Strategist, Wall St. Daily

"In 2013, the United States produced more oil than it imported for the first time since 1988 - and cut its dependence on foreign oil in half from 2005 levels... By 2015, the United States is expected to overtake Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest producer, according to the IEA... Yet one thing standing in the way of full energy independence is the government's long-standing restriction on oil exports."

Neal Asbury

Chief Executive, The Legacy Companies; Host, "Neal Asbury's 'Made In America'"

"But like a bad hangover, one of the lasting results of the 1973 oil embargo is that in 1975 the government halted all U.S. exports of oil. It might have made sense then, but not now... If nothing else, just revisit the old axiom of supply and demand. The world needs more oil. The United States can greatly increase its production. The United States can have a big impact on world pricing of petroleum products. U.S. citizens would benefit with more jobs and lower energy prices. Hard to see the downside."

Chicago Tribune Editorial Board

"Like free trade in general, selling American oil overseas would be good for our economy. It would make the oil market more efficient, encourage a build-out of the U.S. energy network and stabilize prices over time for consumers... Lifting the export ban also would demonstrate Washington's commitment to free and fair commerce as trade negotiations get rolling with Europe and Asia... Congress should have lifted the ban years ago... Today, however, the government has no reason to keep holding back one of the nation's most promising industries."

George Baker

Executive Director, Producers for American Crude Oil Exports (PACE)

"Today's report is further evidence that the ban on US crude oil exports is outdated and should be lifted, because doing so will provide enormous benefits to American consumers and workers."

Neil Hume

Commodities Editor, Financial Times

"[Lifting the crude export ban would be a] more straightforward way of ensuring the benefits of the shale revolution."

Michael L. Krancer

Partner, Chair–Energy Industry Team, Blank Rome LLP; former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)

"We'd love to export [more energy] ... I think we have enough for the entire world."

Ben Shepperd

President, Permian Basin Petroleum Association

"Lifting the crude oil export ban, which is an issue very important to us producers in West Texas, I think that issue has a lot of potential."

Michael James Barton

Policy Fellow, ARTIS; Co-Founder, Security Solutions Global

"Though a ceasefire appears to be holding in Ukraine, it's clear much more needs to be done if the international community hopes to permanently stop Russian aggression... There is something the United States can do that will be both effective and not risk a wider war: lift the economic blockade imposed against American exports of crude oil and liquid natural gas to Europe. European countries, including Russia's closest neighbors, depend heavily on Russia for their energy needs, and Russia uses this dependency as strategic leverage."

Tim Worstall

Contributor, Forbes; Senior Fellow, Adam Smith Institute

"It's just so much simpler and cheaper to allow crude oil exports. So, the ban should go."

Paul Driessen

Senior Policy Advisor, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT); Senior Policy Advisor, Congress of Racial Equality

"If ever there was a time to end the ban on oil exports, it's now ... With US demand for oil products falling, production rising, and myriad studies making a strong case for selling American crude abroad, the president and Congress should terminate the ban as soon as possible."

Tina Barbee

Spokesperson, Tesoro

"Lifting the crude oil export ban in isolation effectively picks winners and losers in the marketplace ... [However, Tesoro supports the concept of] free trade and free markets."

Jim Lee

Regents Professor of Economics, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

"If that... ban is lifted, then US oil and gasoline prices will rise modestly as oil producers will be able to ship the excess supplies to countries at higher prices... With the number of LNG and gas condensate export plants being proposed in the port district, South Texas stands to benefit the most from this policy change."

Maria van der Hoeven

Executive Director, International Energy Agency

"Some may see this as a choice between keeping American oil within US borders for reasons of economic security and allowing the US to generate billions of dollars in new export revenues. But market realities suggest a far simpler decision ahead: either US crude is shopped abroad or it stays in the ground."

Gen. Martin Dempsey

United States Army, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

"An energy independent and net exporter of energy as a nation has the potential to change the security environment and the world, notably in Europe and in the Middle East."

Seth Kleinman

Head of Energy Strategy–Global Commodities Research, Citigroup

"If lower gasoline prices for the US consumer are a desired aim, the US should be exporting crude, and lowering Brent and hence global gasoline prices in the process."

Edward Morse

Managing Director, Global Head of Commodity Research, Citigroup

"It is incontrovertible that if the US exported crude the price of gasoline would be lower."

Rusty Braziel

President, Principal Energy Markets Consultant, RBN Energy

"The rules that were established to be able to handle the exports of those hydrocarbons were all established back in the shortage days. In the olden days, these laws and rules didn't make any difference, Now in a world of exports, they do."

Resources for The Future

"Our basic finding is that the efficiency of global refinery operations would be improved a little if the ban on US exports of crude oil were to be lifted. And, accordingly, gasoline production would go up and its price in the US would fall, anywhere from 3 - 7 cents per gallon once the economy could adjust to lifting the ban. This range could be a bit broader depending on assumed price elasticities of supply and demand and other factors."

William F. Shughart II

Research Director/Senior Fellow, The Independent Institute; J. Fish Smith Professor in Public Choice, Utah State University

"Not only will lifting the ban bring substantial economic benefits to the country, but doing so will also advance US and global energy security. The times – and the world – have changed in the decades since the ban was put into place and our energy policies need to catch up."

Phillips 66

"[Crude exports would be] good for our country."

Mark A. Barteau

Director, Energy Institute; DTE Energy Professor of Advanced Energy Research; Professor, Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan

"In respect to export restrictions, it does not make a lot of sense to distinguish crude from refined products, from liquefied natural gas, or from natural gas liquids ... With increasing domestic production and decreasing imports, the incentive to do so for political appearance should also diminish."

Stephen V. Gold

President and Chief Executive Officer, MAPI

"To create new growth opportunities for manufacturers, when the 114th Congress reports for duty in January 2015, it should make lifting the crude oil export ban a priority."

Merrill Matthews, PhD

Resident Scholar, Institute for Policy Innovation; Vice Chairman, Texas Advisory Committee of the US Commission on Civil Rights

"What's in the best interest of the US is a healthy energy sector and efficient markets, where the price is a reflection of undistorted supply and demand... For 40 years, the US economy and foreign policy have been constrained by politically repressive, oil-producing countries. That day could be coming to an end if we have the ability to export oil."

Mickey Thompson

Owner and President, Brain Storm Strategies, LLC; Paragon Energy Partners, LLC

"I think the best argument for lifting the crude oil export ban is that it's blatantly unfair to domestic oil producers... We've been exporting gasoline and diesel for 25 to 30 years... The point is that the markets should be open. If I want to sell my oil – although I doubt anyone wants to buy my five barrels a day in Great Britain or France – why shouldn't I have the right to do that?"

Rep. Jim Bridenstine

R-OK

"The United States is poised to develop and export energy to the advantage of the American economy and permanently reduce Russia's control over European energy markets... Control a nation's energy and you control the nation. The biggest hurdle to the American energy renaissance - and European energy security - is not Moscow, but Washington D.C."

Rep. Bill Flores

R-TX

"We just need to get through the economic benefits for the American soccer mom about how she is better off, and her family's better off, by having crude oil exports... That's just going to take a little time ... It's going to take a full discussion to make sure everybody knows the economics and they know whose ox gets gored in this ... And really, if we do it right, nobody's ox gets gored."

C. Dean McGrath, Jr.

Attorney-at-Law, Gross & Welch; Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University

"With Russia now a growing threat to the United States and her allies, we need to consider all of our options. That includes addressing Russia's energy threat. Doing away with our needless export bans and restrictions would certainly help."

Toby Mack

President and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA)

"America, along with its oil and gas producers, energy supply chain companies, and millions of American workers, are quite literally "missing the boat" as a result of the federal government-imposed ban on crude oil exports, and severe limits on liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. Eliminating these restrictions would set the stage for dramatically more rapid growth in energy production and for the supply chain businesses that support energy operations."

Rep. John Shimkus

R-IL

"[I am open to lifting the ban] and treating American crude oil like other domestically-produced commodities."

Sen. Mark Begich

D-AK

"This could help stimulate America's oil industry and create American jobs here at home."

Darren Beaudo

Director, External Communications and Media Relations, ConocoPhillips

"The ability to export crude oil from the United States is vital to the country's economic growth and national security, job creation, and strengthening our competitive position in the global marketplace."

Charles T. Drevna

President, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers

"We're free-marketers... We've historically been that. Right now, we've reaffirmed that. I'm sure we'll be addressing it again going forward."

Charles K. Ebinger

Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Energy Security Initiative, Brookings Institution

"What's at stake is that with the unconventional oil production that we have in areas such as North Dakota and elsewhere in the country, as well as large volumes of crude coming in from Canada, we will soon face a fact that we have a surplus on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Which will lead to falling petroleum prices, which on the one hand may sound good for American consumers, but if prices fell to the level that threaten this new unconventional oil and gas production, we could see large investment shut-in and that would be very deleterious to our long-term energy security."

Gov. Chris Christie

R-NJ

"The long-term benefits of open markets for U.S. energy exports are also worth considering in light of the response, particularly in Europe, to Russian aggression in the Ukraine... [North America should] open the global market for United States crude [to reach its full] energy potential."

James L. Williams

Economist, WTRG Economics

"The EIA is saying that exporting oil won't hurt the consumer... It would benefit the oil industry, which means more jobs."

Erik Milito

Director of Upstream and Industry Operations, American Petroleum Institute

"By growing exports, we can create more U.S. jobs, promote greater U.S. energy production, and put downward pressure on fuel costs - a conclusion the Government Accountability Office (GAO) emphasized in a report last week... It's time for policymakers to harness the economic advantages of free trade by lifting outdated and counterproductive limits on U.S. crude exports."

Andy Karsner

Chief Executive Officer, Manifest Energy LLC; former Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, Bush Administration (2006-2008)

"It's as if we own the world's biggest bank vault but misplaced the key... Let's lift that export ban and have America shaping the market price in our own interest."

James Fallon

Consultant, Purvin & Gertz, Inc.; former Director, IHS Downstream Energy Consulting

"There are different types of oil and they require different kinds of refining processes and facilities... And as a result of the boom in tight oil production, the U.S. is exceeding its capacity to process that type of crude. Current export restrictions mean that light crude has to be sold at a sharp discount to compensate for the extra cost of refining it in facilities that were not designed for it. That gridlock is preventing additional investment and production–and the additional economic benefits–that could otherwise take place."

Kurt Barrow

Managing Director, Downstream Energy group, IHS Consulting

"If crude oil export restrictions were lifted, the resulting increase in oil production would increase supply and actually lower gasoline prices... The gasoline trade and price fundamentals are clear."

Sen. Rand Paul

R-KY

"I would immediately get every obstacle out of the way for our export of oil and gas... And I would begin drilling in every possible, conceivable place within our territories in order to have production that we can supply Europe with if it's interrupted from Ukraine."

Rep. Mike Conaway

R-TX

"The crude oil export ban is a relic of a 1970s energy policy designed to prevent price-controlled US crude from flowing overseas to higher paying customers... As a conservative, I am a strong supporter of open, competitive markets... Allowing free trade in crude oil will drive domestic investment in jobs and energy infrastructure."

Jonathan Glionna

Chief U.S. Equity Strategist, Barclays

"The export ban is considered antiquated given the U.S. shale revolution and reduced reliance on foreign oil, and a review is likely to be on the political agenda."

Patrick Pouyanné

Chief Executive Officer and President of the Executive Committee, Total S.A.

"We need to fight and put this topic on the table... I hope the European Commission raises this issue, the refiners in Europe and Asia are suffering from one rule. That is the US cannot export oil."

Sen. Marco Rubio

R-FL

"We must eliminate the barriers that prevent us from exporting natural gas and oil abroad, such as the outdated ban on crude oil exports that dates back to the 1970s."

Sen. John Cornyn

R-TX, Senate Minority Whip

"On balance, it strikes me as a pretty good idea [as long as refineries are prepared for the transition]."

Jack N. Gerard

President and Chief Executive Officer, American Petroleum Institute

"We should not be bound by past practices... It's a new day, it's a new time, it's a new America as it relates to oil and natural gas... We should look at it from a free-trade point of view [and] not limit opportunity for growth here in this country."

John C. Felmy

Chief Economist, American Petroleum Institute

"Allowing free trade in energy will mean more jobs, downward pressure on fuel costs, and can further reduce the impact of global unrest on oil markets. U.S. energy production is already having a major impact on world markets, and if policymakers embrace free trade, that influence will continue to grow in a way that benefits our economy."

Margo Thorning

Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, American Council for Capital Formation

"EPCA's crude oil export ban is a classic example of a cure being worse than the disease. Allowing crude oil exports now before the day of reckoning will strengthen the U.S. economy and provide gains to consumers and the overall economy."

Blake Clayton

Adjunct Fellow on Energy, Council on Foreign Relations; Senior Associate, Citi

"Without compelling reasons for continuing to restrict crude exports, and given the potential benefits, Congress should liberalize the crude oil export regime... Though the companies that benefit from today's export restrictions might oppose any change in the status quo, the broader gains available to the United States from allowing crude exports make it the far better choice."

Robert P. Murphy

Senior Economist, Institute For Energy Research

"Free trade and free markets enhance freedom of choice for all Americans, and the benefits flow accordingly. If the government places arbitrary restrictions on the flow of resources, that makes Americans poorer on net. Ironically, the very people supposedly helped by the export ban–American motorists–are among those hurt by it."

David Williams

President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance

"There simply are no good reasons in this day and age to maintain the last century's policy of banning crude oil exports. For reasons of economic development, job growth and energy security, the United States should move to lift the crude oil export ban as quickly as possible."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski

R-AK, Ranking Republican member, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

"Together, we can send a strong signal to the world that the United States is ready to lead on energy, the environment, and trade. Lifting the ban will help create jobs, boost the economy, and keep our production at record levels."

Karen Alderman Harbert

President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy

"We should have a free energy market out there which would benefit our industry, provide more markets for our industry and make sure we are able to reap the value of all our resources."

Rep. Joe Barton

R-TX

"I'm in favor of overturning the ban on crude oil exports ... the shale revolution has changed the energy landscape in our country. It is time to change our laws to match this new reality."

Harold Hamm

Chief Executive Officer, Continental Resources, Inc.

"[Lifting key parts of the export ban] would add domestic jobs and strengthen oil security abroad. U.S. crude exports could help counter aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin."

Sen. Mary Landrieu

D-LA

"We had to reserve the oil that we had, when no one else was shipping to us ... now that we have more open trade opportunities, and we are producing more here, it just makes absolute perfect sense to reconsider this policy and update it according to the times."

Daniel Yergin

Vice Chairman, IHS.

"The 1970s-era policy restricting crude oil exports -- a vestige from a price controls system that ended in 1981 -- is a remnant from another time."

Rep. Randy Weber

R-TX

"Let's use all we can and sell the rest. I am a free market kind of guy. A rising tide raises all ships."

Rep. Michael McCaul

R-TX

"The decades old ban on crude oil exports is no longer justified given the current market conditions. Lifting the ban will also give America a new foreign policy tool to provide greater stability in the world oil market."

Rep. Blake Farenthold

R-TX

"Do you vote for what is good for your district and your constituents or what is good for your country? I am going with the country on this."

Sen. Ted Cruz

R-TX

"The American Energy Renaissance cannot thrive if the federal government ...impedes the jobs and economic growth hydraulic fracturing is already providing."

Ben van Beurden

Chief Executive Officer, Royal Dutch Shell

"Policy makers here in the US should embrace a truly liberalized diverse and global energy market ... [US oil and natural gas exports] would reinforce the long term future of North American energy production ... and help to make the global energy system much more stable."

Rex Tillerson

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Exxon-Mobil

"In the current debates about LNG and crude oil exports, economists and leaders from across the political spectrum, from all sides, agree that free trade would lead to increased investment, more jobs and, importantly, increased production."

Lawrence H. Summers

Former Director of the White House National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, Obama Administration.

"Permitting the exports of oil will actually reduce the price of gasoline."

James Kim

Research Fellow and Program Chair, American Politics and Policy program and the Center for Regional Studies at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies

"Depending on one source too much raises risks. If we have various sources to import crude including the United States, it will help reduce price fluctuations."

Kyle Isakower

Vice President - Regulatory and Economic Policy, American Petroleum Institute

"Now that the U.S. is poised to become the world's largest oil producer, the economic case for exports is clear ... harnessing these benefits, however, will require lawmakers and regulators to reexamine policies that were enacted long before the U.S. transitioned from a period of energy scarcity to our current position: one of energy abundance."

Sen. John McCain

R-AZ

"It is in America's national security interest to leverage our nation's energy boom to reduce the dependence of our allies on the natural resources of Vladimir Putin's Russia."

Aaron Task

Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo Finance

"I think it makes total sense for America to do this for economic and geopolitical reasons."

David Nicklaus

Business Columnist, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Disco music, wide lapels and other 1970s artifacts have been out of fashion for a long time. It's time for that era's energy policy to join them on the scrap heap of history."

Dr. Ernest Moniz

United States Secretary of Energy

"[The ban needs to be revisited] in an energy world that looks nothing like the 1970s."

Rep. Matt Salmon

R-AZ

"We are ok with lifting the ban."

Amy Jaffe

Executive Director of Energy and Sustainability, Graduate School of Management, Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, CA

"What we're really discussing is who will get profits from [U.S.] exports. The best way to protect consumers is to have ample supply in regional markets, [strong ties with Canada and Mexico,] and have minimum inventory levels established, which are successful in Europe and Japan."

John Kemp

Analyst, Reuters

"There is no rational basis for maintaining a near-total ban on exporting crude while allowing refined products to be exported freely."

Lee Warren

Manager - Internal & External Communications, Marathon Oil Corporation

"[Allowing oil exports] will encourage further investments in oil and gas exploration and production, create more jobs, improve the balance of trade and create other economic benefits for our country."

Ryan Lance

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, ConocoPhillips

"We've been out pretty publicly as a company supporting and advocating on behalf of not only the condensate exports, but the crude-oil exports as well. The condensate solves a very, very small problem."

David L. Goldwyn

President and founder, Goldwyn Global Strategies, LLC; former State Department Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs, Obama Administration

"The broadest bipartisan worry is that crude-oil exports will drive up domestic gasoline prices despite the fact that every rigorous economic analysis believes the opposite is true."

The Aspen Institute

"Given the public's sensitivity to changes in the price of gasoline, many in Congress are reluctant to support eliminating the ban on crude oil exports ...the oil market, however, is worldwide and prices of various grades of oil are set in world markets."

Kim Stevens

Campaign Director, Environment Colorado

"Lifting the oil export ban would be a blessing for the oil companies but a curse for the climate and our health. To avoid more devastating impacts of global warming, including dangerous wildfires, reduced snowpack and pine beetle kill, like we've seen here in Colorado, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and transition to 100-percent pollution-free energy."

Sen. Chuck Grassley

R-IA

"I'm all for fair and free trade... What bothers me is that Big Oil is pushing Congress to repeal the [crude oil export] ban while at the same time continues to attack and undermine domestic renewable fuels... Iowa doesn't produce any crude oil or natural gas. But, Iowa's farmers lead the nation in the production of homegrown, renewable, clean ethanol and biodiesel... Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standard to guarantee that consumers have a choice to buy clean, renewable fuel ... If Big Oil wants to get the export ban lifted, I'd suggest they end their selfish pursuits to repeal the RFS."

Collin O'Mara

President and Chief Executive Officer, National Wildlife Federation

"Most arguments are about the implications for gas prices, refining jobs and domestic output, or about the geopolitical ramifications of growing Russian and eventually Iranian oil exports. Missing in the debate are the consequences for the nation's wildlife... Increasing oil production will further degrade more than a million square acres of wildlife habitat and threaten at-risk species. It will also adversely affect the experiences of millions of American hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts, as well as the local jobs that support these activities."

Roy Houseman

Spokesperson, United Steelworkers

"Our members have done everything they can to comply with federal regulations on clean air... One of the reasons they have been able to afford that is the oil export ban."

Rep. Kathy Castor

D-FL

"[Passing a bill to lift the crude oil export ban would be] an unconscionable giveaway to Big Oil."

Rep. Jan Schakowsky

D-IL

"Every barrel exported...will have to be replaced by a barrel of imported oil."

Matt Lee-Ashley

Director, Public Lands Project, Center for American Progress

"The potential environmental impacts of facilitating more U.S. crude oil exports are far-reaching and costly and would affect communities in the United States and around the world. Lawmakers should gain a better grasp of these consequences before rushing ahead with a decision that would have such profound effects on U.S. energy, economic, and environmental policy."

(joint statement with Alison Cassady)

Alison Cassady

Director, Domestic Energy Policy, Center for American Progress

"The potential environmental impacts of facilitating more U.S. crude oil exports are far-reaching and costly and would affect communities in the United States and around the world. Lawmakers should gain a better grasp of these consequences before rushing ahead with a decision that would have such profound effects on U.S. energy, economic, and environmental policy."

(joint statement with Matt Lee-Ashley)

Mike Bale

Organizer, Local 30 Plumbers Union, Billings, Montana

"As we export crude oil, we will be exporting jobs."

Jeffrey Warmann

Chief Executive Officer, Monroe Energy Inc.

"By lifting export restrictions and sending our crude overseas, we would be sending American jobs overseas as well. Our refineries would lie dormant once again. Refineries in Europe - where there is currently excess refining capacity - would be more than happy to refine our homegrown crude with the help of European workers. In other words, repealing the law will benefit European refinery workers at the expense of thousands of American jobs."

Clayton Aldern

Fellow, Grist

"Ending the crude oil export ban would represent one of the largest tweaks in US energy policy in decades, and, from an environmental perspective, not a positive one."

Franz Matzner

Director, Beyond Oil Initiative, Natural Resources Defense Council

"The move to try to lift the crude-oil export limitation is really a way to invest in the past instead of the future... We should be investing in real energy security and real environmental security, which means resources like wind and solar that don't run out, don't blow up, don't pollute our air and more importantly don't lock consumers into this endless roller-coaster ride driven by foreign oil markets that we can't possibly control."

Doug O'Malley

Director, Environment New Jersey

"Recently, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation for lifting the ban on American crude oil exports. Lifting this ban would mean more drilling in the United States, and an increase in carbon pollution of up to 515 million metric tons annually — as much as adding 135 new coal power plants. This is the exact opposite of weaning ourselves off foreign oil... We need to keep more fossil fuels in the ground, not drill it, ship it and burn it, while global warming passes the point of no return."

Obama Administration

"This is a policy decision that is made over at the Commerce Department, and for that reason, we wouldn't support legislation [to repeal the oil export ban] like the one that's been put forward by Republicans... The administration believes that the American people are better served by making sure that we pursue the kind of approach that also invests in renewable energy."

Hillary Clinton

Democratic Presidential Candidate, 2016; former Secretary of State, Obama Administration

"In general, in the absence of a broader energy plan that does include concessions from the oil and gas industry, I don't think the ban should be lifted."

Kurt Cobb

Contributor, EconMatters

"Until the country figures out how to get along without the millions of barrels of oil it imports each day, oil exports will only increase our dependence on foreign oil — which will have to be shipped in to replace the oil that would now be exported. This might lead to increased efficiencies in the oil industry as each type of crude would more easily reach the refineries best suited to refine it. But it's hard to see how oil exports would make the United States more energy secure... And, that was the reason behind banning oil exports in the first place."

Rick Bass

Former Oil and Gas Geologist

"US gasoline consumption is declining. But oil companies aren't counting on selling Arctic Ocean oil domestically. Instead they hope to export that oil, and to further these ends they're pushing Congress to lift the current crude oil export ban. It is this driving hunger, this mindless habit for more oil that overtakes logical thinking and the ability to make prudent decisions to protect our natural resources."

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.

D-NJ

"The bill before us prohibits any official of the federal government from imposing or enforcing any restriction on the exports of crude oil in any circumstance... Not for reasons of national security, not for adverse consumer impacts, not for public safety, and certainly not for impacts to the environment. And I think this is dangerous and misguided."

Rep. Bobby Rush

D-IL

"Before opening the door to this global market, I must feel confident that underrepresented communities all around this country would indeed benefit from the opportunities that will come from lifting this ban."

* Represents a change in viewpoint from a previously published quote

Karl Frisch

Executive Director, Allied Progress

"We've made such progress over the last decade toward energy independence and the idea that we would march away from that is crazy, especially with what has been going on in the Middle East."

Athan Manuel

Lobbyist, Sierra Club

"It's a bad idea from the global warming standpoint, in particular... [And] from a political standpoint, it's a bad idea to embolden the oil industry with a big legislative win for them."

Cyrus Sanati

Columnist, Fortune Magazine

"While the lifting of the export ban in its entirety would be a coup for some US oil producers, as the local crude benchmark would rise to match international prices, it would be bad for pretty much everyone else. Refiners would see their margins take a hit because of the increase in crude and would thus try to pass on as much of that extra cost as possible on to its customers at the pump. Higher gas prices are never a good thing, especially in an election year."

Sen. Martin Heinrich

D-NM

"I think the proponents are making some very persuasive arguments on this front... But I think before we make such a monumental shift in US policy, I hope we can agree to expand our existing policy incentives for carbon-free energy sources."

Sen. Angus King

I-ME

"I might be prepared to support it, but only if there's a more balanced package of changes in the bill, for example, extension of the renewable credits for wind and solar, other kinds of environmental and renewable energy supports."

David Turnbull

Campaigns Director, Oil Change International

"The hazardous increases in oil production that could come with the removal or weakening of the crude export ban presents much greater dangers that simply cannot be ignored. Everyday, dangerous fracking wells, sprawling rail lines carrying so-called "bomb trains" and a network of leaking pipelines threaten our communities with spills and explosions with far-too-frequent regularity. If the highest estimates of increased oil production are realized, eliminating the crude oil export ban could lead to as much as a doubling of crude-by-rail traffic from today's already perilous levels... We have dug ourselves an enormous climate hole that will take tremendous resolve to claw ourselves out of. Removing the crude export ban only serves to dig that hole deeper. It fails the climate test and would be a step in the wrong direction for this nation's climate and energy policy."

Anthony Swift

Staff Attorney—International Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

"Lifting the long-standing ban of crude oil exports will expand the industrial oil patch in America's backyard, bringing with it a host of impacts to our waters, communities, ranches and farms, as international markets incentivize producers to expand fracking and send more mile long oil trains through our towns and cities. The national debate over lifting the crude oil export ban is a damaging distraction from the urgent challenge of reducing our nation's carbon emissions and transitioning to a clean energy economy."

Alan Stevens

President, Stancil & Co.

"Allowing the export of crude would cause domestic gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and heating oil prices to increase [and] allowing exports of domestic crude would have a negative impact on the US trade balance... Lifting the crude export ban would result in a domestic crude price increase of approximately $3.00 per barrel, thereby eliminating the incentive to export products. This would have significant implications on the US refining industry, including: Lower refinery utilization and/or possible refinery closures; Increased imports of crude and refined products; The impact of increased petroleum product costs would impact all consumers of gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, and heating oil. These consumers are not only the driving public, but also airlines, trucking companies, railroads, etc., which would increase their cost of services to cover the increased fuel costs."

Robert Wisness

Owner, Wisness Seed Farm; former President, North Dakota Grain Growers Association

"Agriculture is the most energy-dependent industry in America so farmers bear the brunt of every hurricane, Middle East uprising, oil spill, mythical shortage and politician's whim as crude oil, fuel and fertilizer prices unjustifiably skyrocket every time... Now the American oil industry wants the ability to export the very oil that is produced on millions of acres of American farmland... The payback for agriculture may eventually come in the form of stable- priced, reliable fuel and fertilizer supplies, but that will not happen if our oil is allowed to leave. We like to think we need each other but to coexist, it must be a two-way street ... Exporting American crude oil is a bad idea whose time has not come."

Rep. Mike Doyle

D-PA

"Why wouldn't we be talking about taking this excess light sweet crude and retooling our refinery capacity and keeping it right here in the United States? ... As policymakers we are supposed to be thinking 20, 30, 40 years down the road for the next generation... not how people can make some more money in the oil industry."

Frank Rusco

Director - Natural Resources and Environment-Energy Issues, US Government Accountability Office

"[Lifting the crude oil export ban] could lead to incrementally more injuries or environmental damage."

Sam Lowe

Campaigner, Friends of the Earth

"In the European Union, US oil barons have found themselves an unlikely ally. The EU is explicitly asking the US to lift prohibitive restrictions, not only on crude oil exports but also on the export of liquefied natural gas... If we are to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change, 80% of known fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground. It is inexcusable that the EU is pushing for measures in a trade deal that would — as envisioned — likely lead to more investment sunk into fossil fuel exploration, extraction, processing and transport, and in doing so potentially lock in high carbon dirty energy for the foreseeable future."

Jacob Dweck

Partner, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan LLP

"The lack of a domestic crude oil discount has the natural effect of defusing the political urgency of lawmakers or the administration having to do something to help producers... For the time being, the condensate export solution seems to have mooted or at a minimum tamed the price argument for crude exports."

Kirk Lippold

Retired U.S. Navy Commander

"We still import a staggering amount of oil... Lifting export regulations may have the unintended consequence of undermining our national security goal of energy independence."

Justin Mikulka

Reporter, DeSmogBlog

"The oil industry has been pushing the message that lifting the oil export ban will lower gas prices in the US and the industry hopes the American public will buy into the phony idea that the oil industry really cares about poor people and "lifting living standards" everywhere... In reality, lifting the export ban would mean the expansion of fracking in the US and increased oil production and consumption that climate scientists tell us we can ill afford."

Tim Ream

Climate and Energy Campaign Director, WildEarth Guardians

"If Congress ends the oil export ban, you'll pay more for gas and there will be more oil profit and more fracking."

Marcie Keever

Oceans and Vessels Program Director, Friends of the Earth

"Repealing the ban would open the floodgates to more crude oil extraction and the burning of petroleum products, which would worsen the impacts of climate disruption."

The Columbian (Clark County, WA)

"As the United States enjoys a boom in oil production, common sense dictates that the oil should remain at home, providing American refinery jobs and reducing the nation's reliance upon oil imports. Common sense also dictates that it is unconscionable that a Senate hearing featuring experts and legislators did not include a single mention of the environmental impact of exporting oil... Lifting a ban on exports would be a bad idea for the United States, both economically and environmentally. And with Vancouver in the midst of the oil debate, that means it would be a bad idea for us."

Karthik Ganapathy

USA Communications Manager, 350.org

"It feels ridiculous to have a discussion about lifting the ban on oil exports and not talk about climate change... What it boils down to is lifting the ban encourages and incentivizes oil production in the US, and that's the wrong direction."

Brad Markell

Executive Director—Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO

"If we lift the ban on crude oil exports, we will export both our oil and the jobs and economic activity associated with refining that oil."

Patti Goldman

Managing Attorney, Earthjustice

"Eroding the crude oil export ban in place for more than 40 years is incredibly controversial. At a time when the nation has made a commitment to reduce climate-warming emissions and the renewable energy sector is going gangbusters in job creation, US energy policy should reject any measure that encourages more drilling and more production of highly polluting crude oil. Decisions like this by the [Bureau of Industry and Security] need to be transparent and made with full public participation."

Yvonne Cather

Chair, Sierra Club—Kansas Chapter

"We don't need to export our oil unless you have stock in companies that make a profit off of it. In fact, in a few years we really are going to need a lot less of this stuff for good. And that's a good thing."

John T. Johnson III

Board Member, Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors

"Who is it that my state representative, Joe Barton, and his band of brothers is truly supporting? Their constituents or Big Oil? ... Nary a cent of my business income is derived from any facet of the oil and gas industry. Most Texas household incomes are not, nor are most in the US. We are all celebrating low prices at the pump... When I save $20+ per fill-up, I like it. It stays in my pocket. I spend it on other things that generate tax revenue for the state... Furthermore, this country is not energy independent. Why does Barton want to export crude oil when we are still importing? Make sense? Not to me."

Sam Schabacker

Mountain West Region Organizer, Food & Water Watch

"The impact of [allowing exports] will be pretty dire in a couple of ways. First and foremost, this would be a sweetheart giveaway to the oil and gas industry. A lot of people in the industry have been salivating over the prospect of getting to take the fracked oil that has been increasingly in abundance in the United States and ship it overseas to countries like China or India or continents like Europe. And we can be certain that if this bill goes forward to fast-track the export of oil, fracked oil, or even fracked natural gas, we're going to see thousands more fracking wells next to homes and schools, as we have seen in Texas, in New Mexico, in Pennsylvania, in my home state of Colorado ... The second concern is, of course, if you start exporting this resource overseas, there is a question of what that will do to the cost of getting that resource in the United States. For many consumers, folks that are working, that are just barely able to make ends meet, the prospect of seeing their home heating costs go up because of this export bill, that's not a satisfactory one, that's not one that they're looking and excited to have to add to the long list of costs that they're already trying to take and make ends meet with."

Rex J. Zedalis

Professor of Law, The University of Tulsa

"There can be no doubt that the current nearly 50% discount in crude oil prices over this past summer affects the oil industry and its suppliers. It also affects the stores and employees where industry income is spent, as well as the state governments in "oil country" that would otherwise benefit from the additional tax revenue... While this is far from helpful to efforts to jump-start the nation's economy and rapidly move away from the depths of the financial crisis and its ensuing recession, there are several reasons why it would be a mistake to believe lifting the current embargo on oil exports would cure the price problems bedeviling the oil industry... Perhaps one can disagree over whether the long-standing US restrictions on exports of domestic crude should be lifted. From the standpoint of seeking "true" (rather than mere rhetorical) energy independence, however, the course is crystal clear. What's certain regarding export restrictions is that any suggestion they should be lifted because such will boost the price of oil is unlikely to be received favorably by consumers."

Sandy Dechert

Contributor, Clean Technica

"We extract enough shale gas that we can now afford to export it. This harms other nations in terms of postponing development of cleaner renewable energies and promoting instant gratification and chauvinist greed. Eventually, too, through the atmosphere, surface air, water, and soil, the poisons will come back to us... Not only does the United States ignore domestic and world priorities by using and exporting fracked resources, but we set a horrible example. Shooting for energy independence, we hypocritically turn our backs on sustainability, develop toxic and increasingly costly extraction and production methods that developing nations can exploit at speed, if they choose to, and invest in frail partnerships like the joint ventures in the arctic that have become lost assets because someone crossed a line in the Ukraine... Some estimators of projected US shale reserves – including independent analyst, author, and investor Bill Powers – see them declining much, much faster than the US Energy Information Administration estimates. Others see them peaking by the end of the decade, perhaps sooner... So what happens then? So much for energy independence. Better to spend our limited cash on something that's going to last."

John Podesta

Counselor to the President, Climate Change and Energy Policy, Obama Administration

"At this stage, I think that what the Commerce Department did in December [allowing the export of condensate] sort of resolves the debate. We felt comfortable with where they went ... If you look at what's going on in the market and actions that the Department took, I think that ... there's not a lot of pressure to do more."

Jay Hauck

Executive Director, Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy (CRUDE)

"Put simply, a change in policy would mean the added value comes from abroad, not from here at home. To add injury to insult: American crude would be shipped over to Europe, refined there, and then those products would be sold back to us at a higher price than if the crude oil were refined in the United States... Meanwhile, shipping domestically-produced crude oil overseas would mean less domestic crude oil is being refined here in the United States, while we are still importing about 45% of our daily demand! Prices here would inevitably rise, in effect creating a massive tax increase - perpetrated by Congress."

Arthur Berman

Geological Consultant

"Whatever outcome results from the debate over petroleum exports, it will result in higher prices for American consumers. There are experts who argue that it won't increase prices much and that the economic benefits will outweigh higher costs. That may be but I doubt that anyone knows for sure. Everyone agrees that oil and gas will cost more if we allow exports."

Stephen Kretzmann

Executive Director and Founder, Oil Change International

"Removing the crude export ban would be a disaster for the climate... President Obama and the US Congress need to stand up to Big Oil and defend the current regulations if he is actually serious about addressing our climate crisis... Big Oil's push for deregulation is all about profits and nothing more, no matter the consequences for our climate and communities... To push for more oil drilling at a time when our communities are facing climate chaos everyday is to deny the reality of climate change."

Jonathan Chanis

Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University

"If you give domestic sellers the option of selling crude oil internationally, they would have more buyers and the realized price should go up... However, there could be negative implications for California. The export ban often slightly lowers the price of crude in California because Alaskan production is essentially captive to that market."

Michael A. Levi

Director, Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies

"It runs against the conventional wisdom about what oil security means... Something seems upside-down when we say energy security means producing oil and sending it somewhere else."

Carl Pope

Former Executive Director, Sierra Club

"We shouldn't allow the export of US crude oil - unless we also want to guarantee the continuation of sky high OPEC prices."

Brendan E. Williams

Senior Vice President of Advocacy, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM)

"While some argue we may need to immediately advance a policy of unrestricted exports due to an over saturation of domestic, light crude oil... we are far from the point of such saturation. Utilization increases, crude mix adjustments, import exchanges and refining investments will allow at least a million barrels more light crude oil to be manufactured into finished products domestically in the short term. We have plenty of time to discuss and better understand the implications of crude oil exports, as well as to address other regulations imposing barriers to free trade."

Leo W. Gerard

International President, United Steelworkers

"Lifting the ban would benefit oil companies that engage in oil exploration and production, but it would harm their refining operations that have to purchase crude at the market price... It also would hurt independent refiners that do not engage in oil exploration."

Gary Beevers

International Vice President, United Steelworkers

"Lifting the crude oil export ban would harm U.S. refineries and workers... Oil companies that engage in exploration and production would reap huge profits at the expense of their refining units that have to buy oil on the open market. Also harmed would be independent refiners that do not engage in oil exploration... The reasons for not ending the crude oil export ban are obvious... Congress and the administration should not even be considering incremental legislation that would lift the ban in stages."

Thomas O'Malley

Executive Chairman, PBF Energy

"Lifting the oil export ban will raise prices for US refiners... The math is simple on this action: Removing export ban = higher oil prices = higher gasoline prices = angry voters."

Jeremy Nichols

Climate and Energy Program Director, WildEarth Guardians

"I think the last thing we need to be talking about is exporting fossil fuels... We're struggling to try to rein in carbon pollution as a nation... The American people want to see action and are concerned about the costs in increased pollution or a failure to reduce carbon pollution effectively. If we're talking about exporting oil, we're just talking about burning it somewhere else."

Philip Rinaldi

Chief Executive Officer/Principal Partner, Philadelphia Energy Solutions LLC

"[Loosening exports is] a very bad idea... I would prefer to be adding value and selling to others, rather than behaving as if we were a colony to the rest of the world and selling them the raw materials so that they could add value and sell us back expensive products."

Michael C. Jennings

President and Chief Executive Officer, HollyFrontier Corp.

"Crude exports on the part of a country that imports nearly half of its crude oil requirements are, in our view, very unlikely to improve energy security or advance national interest, as we will simply make ourselves more dependent upon crude oil imports as we export our own crude."

Rep. Kevin McCarthy

R-CA, House Majority Leader

"[Mr. McCarthy isn't ready to support lifting or relaxing the nation's decades-old ban on oil exports, although he fully endorses exporting natural gas.] "We actually get a little premium where our oil is cheaper simply from the fact of what we're getting. If we didn't, it would find its natural price and it would actually rise a little ... I do believe in the free market."

Rep. Ed Whitfield

R-KY

"I've been reading a number of articles recently from some quite knowledgeable people who are of the opinion that the shale oil discovery may not be quite the bonanza that we expect it to be ... And so because of the direct link between oil and gasoline prices – and that's always a hot political topic here in the US – anything about oil exports is going to be a little bit more dicey an issue ... [his subcommittee plans to hold a number of hearings on the topic next year to] get more of the facts."

Sen. Ron Wyden

D-OR, Senate Energy Committee Chair

"There may be a time when crude oil exports are appropriate, but is now that time? ... The US is still importing about half our oil, including from some places that don't always have America's best interest in mind."

Tyson Slocum

Director, Public Citizen Energy Program

"Because lifting the ban would cause U.S. benchmark oil prices to rise, companies likely would have a greater incentive to increase production... With all of the increased production coming from controversial fracking techniques, lifting the ban not only would raise gasoline prices for U.S. families, but would create bigger environmental headaches."

Mike McKenna

President, MWR Strategies; GOP Energy Strategist

"Five years from now... exporting crude is going to be fairly noncontroversial. But when in the next five years it becomes noncontroversial, I can't predict... [Backing an end to the ban is] a little risky... because every time gas prices go up, you're going to wind up getting dinged... When most people think about energy independence, they don't think about a great big wall around the country... They think about, 'Could the U.S., if we needed to, supply all of our own energy?'"

Oil Change International

"In order to play its part in meeting global climate goals, it is imperative that the United States maintains the ban on crude oil exports and does everything it can to decrease, rather than increase, the global pool of fossil fuel reserves that are exploited."

Wells Fargo

"Having analyzed the data regarding crude oil prices and U.S. wholesale gasoline prices, we are comfortable stating that U.S. gasoline consumers are benefiting from the inability to freely export U.S. produced crude oil... We provide evidence that U.S. gasoline consumers are benefiting from the restrictions on crude oil exports."

Janet Mullins Grissom

Partner, Peck, Madigan, Jones; Lobbyist, Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy (CRUDE)

"Why is it that our gas prices haven't spiked during this turmoil in the Middle East the way they did a few years ago? ... Because we've got all this domestic supply [that cannot be sent overseas]."

Sen. Robert Menendez

D-NJ, Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

"Lifting the crude oil export ban means Big Oil will export oil until the world price and the American price are the same. We should keep American oil in America just as we have for the last 40 years."

Daniel J. Weiss

Senior Vice President of Campaigns, League of Conservation Voters; former Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy Center at American Progress

"Selling crude oil at a higher price on the world market would pad the bank accounts of oil companies, but it could also raise gasoline prices at home and increase our imports. To protect the pocketbooks of families and businesses and maintain our energy security, we should keep American oil here at home."

Sen. Edward J. Markey

D-MA

"[The Commerce decision] puts America on a slippery slope to send more of our oil abroad, even at a time when the Middle East is in disarray and tensions are running high with Russia. We should keep our resources here at home for American families and businesses, not send this oil abroad even as we import oil from dangerous regions of the world ... Congress put this oil export ban in place. It should be Congress that decides when and how to change it, not through a private ruling by the Commerce Department without public debate."

Sen. John Hoeven

R-ND

"We have to make sure it won't impact the price at the pump, and until we make that determination, I'm not on board."

Bill Day

Vice President - Communications, Valero

"The current situation is working fine and doesn't need to change. We buy oil and take it to our refineries, turn it into gasoline, diesel and other refined fuels since those are higher-valued products that help decrease the trade deficit ... It would do more harm than good and lead to higher prices in the U.S. for consumers. I don't fault oil producers for seeking to lift the ban because crude oil is selling for less in the U.S. than overseas."

Rep. Gene Green

D-TX

"I want to take it one step at a time. I am not just for throwing the door open to exports."

Rep. John Culberson

R-TX

"We need to make sure it is done in a systematic way. We need to take care of Americans' needs first."

Ilana Solomon

Director, Responsible Trade Program at Sierra Club

"Encouraging trade in dirty fossil fuels would mean more dangerous fracking here in the U.S. and would push more climate-disrupting fuels into the European Union. The oil and gas industry is the only winner in this situation."

Graeme Burnett

Senior Vice President - Fuels Optimization, Delta Air Lines

"If we lift the export ban we would in essence be allowing the transport of crude out of a competitive market in this country and into a less competitive global one controlled by a few oil producing states. The results would be easy to predict: U.S. crude would flow out of this country and onto the world market. OPEC would reduce supply to maintain high global prices. The United States' use of homegrown oil would diminish and prices here at home would rise to match the higher global price for a barrel of crude."

Jeffrey Peck

Principal, Peck Madigan Jones; Lobbyist for CRUDE, Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy

"Once people understand the market for crude oil is not free, they quickly recognize traditional principles of free trade don't apply here."

Sen. Joe Manchin

D-WV

"I think basically until we become energy independent we ought to carefully consider what we do with our energy resources, absolutely."