Full Title: Rendering Vital Assistance: Allowing Oil Shipments to U.S. Allies
Author(s): U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Publisher(s): U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Publication Date: June 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
During the 1970s, the United States enacted a series of laws that, taken together as a practical matter, ban the export of domestic crude oil. The Unites States is the only advanced nation that maintains such a general prohibition. Efforts are currently underway to repeal those laws, such as S. 1312, The Energy Supply and Distribution Act of 2015. The President also retains the authority to approve oil exports immediately, without any further action from Congress. American allies could formally request an exemption from the general prohibition and President Obama is fully empowered to grant such a request under existing laws.