WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Petroleum products were highlights for U.S. trade last year, an economic driver the American Petroleum Institute said will increase with more exports.
More U.S. energy production at home translated to a decline in import spending for 2014, an annual report from the Commerce Department said. With oil imports down, and consumers saving money on energy costs, API Chief Economist John Felmy said the domestic energy sector is a source of economic strength, though there are trade limits restricting further growth.
"For the U.S. to grow as an energy leader, policymakers must embrace free trade, accelerate permits to export liquefied natural gas, and lift 1970s restrictions on crude oil," he said in a Thursday statement.
The Commerce Department said U.S. exports set a record for the fifth straight year in 2014, reaching $2.35 trillion. Most of that trade was with Canada, China and Mexico.
Those in the energy industry argue more trade is needed with countries that don't have a free-trade agreement with the United States, like those in Europe, in order to take advantage of gains in U.S. natural gas production. A special permit is needed to export LNG to non free-trade countries, though negotiations are ongoing to open the trade doors in the European Union.
The Commerce Department said the White House is working on a national export initiative that would make it easier to access overseas markets. Crude oil exports, meanwhile, are limited by legislation enacted in response to an export embargo from Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries who, in the 1970s, expressed frustration with U.S. policy on Israel.
Exports of an ultra-light form of oil called condensate, found in some U.S. shale basins, has been permitted. Several studies have offered competing claims on the benefits of U.S. crude oil exports, though Felmy said it could act as a means to increase U.S. leverage overseas.
"If we act now, these benefits could be just the beginning," he said.
