Lift The Ban On Oil And Gas Exports And Strengthen The US

February 10, 2015

Falling oil prices threaten to slow the US drilling boom.

The downturn has also increased calls to lift the ban on exporting oil and natural gas from the US - an outdated policy that should be changed.

Following the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74, the Energy Policy Conservation Act of 1975 forbade the exportation of domestic crude oil. Natural gas exports have also been banned.

The logic at the time was simple: Domestic oil production was in decline and surging oil consumption meant increased imports, primarily from the strife-torn Middle East. Why should domestic oil be exported to Europe or elsewhere when it could be saved for domestic consumption? That logic was wrong then, and it is wrong today. Yet regrettably, it still pervades the public dialogue.

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