September 26, 2019 6:50 a.m.
Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley along with Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts have reintroduced legislation they say would reinstate the ban on sending American crude oil abroad.
Wyden said “America shouldn’t be both importing and exporting millions of barrels of oil a day, wasting precious resources and time while furthering America’s dependence on oil”. He said it is time to “stop propping up Big Oil and pivot, instead, to making a full-fledged effort to transition to a clean energy future and kick our carbon habit once and for all”.
Wyden’s release said as a result of lifting the 40-year old ban on exporting American crude oil, historic amounts of U.S. oil are now going to foreign nations rather than staying here to benefit American consumers. The legislation from the three senators is called the Block All New Oil Exports Act. It would amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to reinstate the ban on the export of crude oil and natural gas produced in the United States.
The release said U.S. crude oil exports reached more than 3 million barrels per day in June 2019, even as the country continued to import nearly 1 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products per day on a net basis this year. The omnibus spending bill enacted in December 2015, lifted the 40-year old restrictions on exporting U.S. oil overseas.