{"id":40541,"date":"2015-09-24T11:27:26","date_gmt":"2015-09-24T16:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=40541"},"modified":"2015-09-24T11:39:29","modified_gmt":"2015-09-24T16:39:29","slug":"heres-why-the-u-s-banned-crude-oil-exports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2015\/09\/24\/heres-why-the-u-s-banned-crude-oil-exports\/","title":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s Why the U.S. Banned Crude Oil Exports"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_37765\"  class=\"wp-caption module image right\" style=\"max-width: 300px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37765\" alt=\" A tug boat navigates the Houston ship channel with a flare from an oil refinery and storage facility in the background south of downtown Houston\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/07\/21969001_H16734857-300x185.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/07\/21969001_H16734857-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/files\/2014\/07\/21969001_H16734857-620x383.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">REUTERS \/RICHARD CARSON \/LANDOV<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tug boat navigates the Houston ship channel with a flare from an oil refinery and storage facility in the background south of downtown Houston<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It might sound surprising that the U.S. does not allow the export of one of its most valuable and plentiful natural resources \u2014 but in the case of crude oil, it&#8217;s true.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of Texas politicians would like to see the ban overturned, and soon lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives <a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/254033-house-committee-passes-crude-oil-export-bill\" target=\"_blank\">may vote on just that<\/a>.\u00a0 But why is there a ban in the first place?<\/p>\n<p>The year is 1973. It\u2019s midway through the Arab-Israeli war, and the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries\u00a0just made an historic announcement.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/225386160&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false\" height=\"166\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--break--><\/p>\n<p><!--more-->OPEC will reduce oil production by five percent a month until the Israelis withdraw from occupied territories.<\/p>\n<p>Within days the war is over, but the impact of the \u201coil shock\u201d remains. Prices skyrocket, and U.S. vulnerability is revealed.<\/p>\n<p>A couple years later, the U.S. Department of Energy sums it up in a documentary called \u201cWhen the Circuit Breaks: America\u2019s Energy Crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnless we conserve while we look for new energy sources, we face the recurring threat of embargoes, of energy sources breaking without warning,\u201d says the film\u2019s dramatic voiceover.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/01vNAKWRIFo\" height=\"315\" width=\"100%\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The export ban was a key part of that \u201cconservation.\u201d The idea was to make sure the oil that was produced here, stayed here. But a lot has changed. In fact, there are hints of that change buried in that same old film.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOil shale \u2014 oil-filled rock \u2014 is being mined and processed in an experimental plant,\u201d the film said. \u201cThough it\u2019s now expensive to get crude oil out of the rock, it could someday answer a good portion of our oil needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling, that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n<p>So here we are.\u00a0 People who want to lift the ban say exporting shale oil will be good for business \u2013 especially in oil-rich states like Texas. They also think it will help the country strategically. \u00a0Opponents say it could hurt the economy and the environment.<\/p>\n<p>Over it all floats another big question: just how competitive would US oil be on the international market? OPEC still controls the price, and many OPEC countries can produce oil more cheaply than the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re sure to hear more from all sides in the days ahead. Congress could vote on lifting the export ban before the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It might sound surprising that the U.S. does not allow the export of one of its most valuable and plentiful natural resources \u2014 but in the case of crude oil, it&#8217;s true. A lot of Texas politicians would like to see the ban overturned, and soon lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives may vote [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40541"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40555,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40541\/revisions\/40555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}