API remarks on crude oil exports

Following the release of the ICF International and EnSys Energy report on US crude oil exports, Kyle Isakower, API Vice President for Regulatory and Economic Policy made the following comments.

‘Consumers are among the first to benefit from free trade, and crude oil is no exception. Gasoline costs are tied to a global market, and this study shows that additional exports could help increase supplies, put downward pressure on the prices at the pump, and bring more jobs to America. Access to foreign customers could drive significant investment in US production, helping to strengthen our energy security. Now that the US is poised to become the world’s largest oil producer, the economic case for exports is clear.

‘For economists, the results will come as no surprise. The analysis…confirms the benefits that have already been suggested by a number of other reports.’

Key findings

‘Crude exports could yield consumer savings of up to US$ 5.8 billion/y, on average, between 2015 and 2035. If current restrictions were lifted, the cost of gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel could fall by as much as 3.8 cents /gal. in 2017, dropping as much as 2.3 cents /gal., on average, from 2015 to 2035.

‘In addition, the economy could gain up to 300 000 additional jobs in 2020, both due to higher oil production and US consumers having more money in their pockets to spend on goods and services. Domestic oil production could rise by as much as 500 000 bpd in 2020, and the trade deficit could fall by US$ 22 billion the same year.

‘In total, the economy could grow by as much as US$ 38 billion in 2020, with an average GDP increase of up to US$ 27 billion annually through 2035. An additional US$ 15 to 70 billion could be invested in US exploration, development and production between 2015 and 2020.

‘And finally, federal, state, and local government revenues could rise by as much as US$ 13.5 billion in 2020.’

Closing remarks

‘Harnessing these benefits, however, will require lawmakers and regulators to reexamine policies that were enacted long before the US transitioned from a period of energy scarcity to our current position: one of energy abundance.

‘Today, we’re producing nearly 50% more oil than we did in 2008. By 2015, the IEA predicts the US will surpass Saudi Arabia and Russia to be the world’s top crude oil producer.

‘This is a new era for American energy, but our energy trade policies are stuck in the 1970s. The US and China are the only major oil producers in the world that don’t export a significant amount of crude. It’s time to unlock the benefits of trade for US consumers and further strengthen our position as a global energy superpower.’

Adapted from speech by Claira Lloyd

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/gas-processing/02042014/api_crude_oil_exports_comment/