Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Republican and the expected new chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, has been the leading proponent in Congress for ending the ban, arguing that a sea change in the way oil and gas prices are determined in global markets has turned it into a relic of a past era of fuel scarcity, one that is increasingly harming the outlook for the nation’s booming shale oil industry.
Ms. Murkowski cites studies by the General Accountability Office and private firms that found lifting the ban would do the opposite of what politicians and consumers have always expected. Rather than raising gas prices as more U.S. oil is sent to global markets, it would drive pump prices down thanks to a recent change in the way gas prices are set.
The U.S. government has banned oil exports since the energy crisis of the 1970s, but that could change next year as Republicans take control of Congress and are backed by new studies showing that repeal of the ban would actually lower gasoline prices and be a surprising boon to consumers.
“The price American drivers pay for gasoline at their local station is linked to the price of oil set by the global market,” she noted recently. “Exporting U.S. oil to our friends and allies will not raise gasoline prices here at home and should, in fact, help drive down prices” by lowering the global price for oil.
Ms. Murkowski’s argument is likely to get backing soon from an authoritative source: The Energy Information Administration is due to publish a definitive report on the subject, and is expected to largely agree with private assessments that the prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel would go down or be little changed by a resumption of U.S. crude exports.
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