HOUSTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Ending the ban on the export of crude oil sourced from U.S. basins would result in a per household labor income increase of $158 per year, a report finds.
Consultant firm IHS published an installment in a series of reports reviewing potential benefits of ending the 1970s ban on exports of U.S. crude oil. The report finds the economic activity that would come as a result of ending the ban would support an additional 124,000 jobs on average through 2030, with a peak 293,000 by 2018.
A Senate committee on energy voted in July to repeal a 1970s-era ban on crude oil exports. Committee Chair Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has moved several pieces of legislation aimed at ending a ban on U.S. crude oil exports, arguing removing the ban would boost economic strength at home while advancing U.S. national security interests overseas.
The ban was enacted after Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries placed an embargo on crude oil exports to the United States in response to Washington's support for Israel.
The report from IHS finds removing the ban will result in real and direct impacts on the overall U.S. economy.
"The crude oil supply chain will add $26 billion to gross domestic product per year and improve labor income by about $158 per year, on average, for each household," the report read.
The American Petroleum Institute, which represents the interests of oil and gas producers said lifting the ban would drive fuel costs lower, create more jobs in the United States and strengthen the country's leverage overseas. In calling on the crowd of presidential candidates to weigh in on what supporters describe as the era of abundance, API President and Chief Executive Officer Jack Gerard said the next administration cannot "be blinded to the opportunities in front of us by a stale mindset of '70s-era scarcity."
A federal nonpartisan report cast doubt on the export debate, noting most overseas refineries aren't designed to process the lighter grade for crude oil found in most U.S. shale basins. Jay Hauck, executive director of the Consumers and Refiners United for Domestic Energy, or CRUDE, said potential trading partners need U.S. fuel, not U.S. crude oil.
