Resolution in Support of Lifting Federal Restrictions on Crude Oil Exports

Summary

This model policy is similar to previous IR model policy that attempts to address export controls that have outlived their usefulness, this one dealing with crude oil exports. It calls on the US Department of Commerce to expand its definition of allowable crude oil exports; on the President of the United States to acknowledge that crude oil exports are in the national interest; and on the US Congress to pass legislation removing the current ban on crude oil exports and to waive Jones Act requirements for domestic crude oil shipments.

Resolution in Support of Lifting Federal Restrictions on Crude Oil Exports

Resolution in Support of Lifting Federal Restrictions on Crude Oil Exports

WHEREAS, in response to the 1973 oil crisis, Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1973 and the Export Administration Act of 1979, significantly restricting U.S. crude oil exports except for a few arbitrary exceptions; and

WHEREAS, with the advancement of drilling technologies the U.S. in 2013 produced over 2.7 billion barrels of crude oil, the most produced domestically since 1989; and

WHEREAS, millions of barrels of refined products, including gasoline, are currently exported on a daily basis, free of any restriction on trade.

WHEREAS, crude oil is an internationally traded commodity and is therefore susceptible to price fluctuations based upon fear and speculation in addition to normal supply and demand economics; and

WHEREAS, current trade restrictions distort the U.S. economy by artificially depressing prices, disrupting the operation of free market economies, thereby dampening additional production of U.S. crude oil; and

WHEREAS, other barriers to a free and open market, and particularly the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (“Jones Act”), should also be addressed to allow our domestic fuel manufacturers access to new U.S. crude oil supplies, in a manner that is free of artificially imposed economic penalties that place domestic refiners at a competitive disadvantage to foreign refiners; and

WHEREAS, allowing American oil producers greater access to markets both foreign and domestic would encourage further investments in oil and gas production in the U.S., leading to increased economic growth, wages, and employment for every state in the nation.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of {state} urges:

  1. The U.S Department of Commerce to expand its definition of allowable crude oil exports;
  2. The President of the U.S. to acknowledge that crude oil exports are in the national interest of the country and to exempt all oil producers from the current crude export ban, pursuant to his authority under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act; and
  3. Congress, in recognition of the benefits of free trade, to pass legislation removing the current ban on crude oil exports, and to waive Jones Act requirements for domestic crude oil shipments.

BE IT FURTHER RESOVLED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of the U.S., the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the members of the congressional delegation of {state}.

Approved by the ALEC Board of Directors January 9, 2015.

Approved by ALEC Board of Directors December 20, 2019