API: EIA report confirms need for bipartisan action on crude exports

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Sep 01, 2015, 01:47 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumers could save on fuel costs if policymakers act now to lift trade restrictions on U.S. crude oil, said API, citing a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

"The EIA report provides a final, non-partisan confirmation that '70s-era trade restrictions on U.S. oil are bad for American consumers," said Kyle Isakower, API vice president of regulatory and economic policy. "America is now a global energy superpower, and we shouldn't have trade policies that make it harder for the U.S. to compete with other suppliers, like Iran and Russia. The EIA report only reinforces the economic benefits of exports outlined in every other major study-- more U.S. jobs, greater U.S. energy production, and downward pressure on fuel costs.

"It's time for policymakers to harness the economic advantages of free trade by lifting the outdated ban on crude exports. Strong, bipartisan legislation is now making its way through both chambers of Congress. Lawmakers need to make this issue an immediate priority when they return from the summer break."

API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. API's more than 625 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation's energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 25 million Americans.

SOURCE American Petroleum Institute