American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2015 - 40

Gasoline and other refined products are
not subject to the same trade restrictions
as crude, he pointed out, and imports to
the East Coast and exports from the Gulf
Coast routinely trade freely.
"This free trade and movement create
price linkages among refined product
markets, both inside the United States
and between the United States and foreign
markets, such as Europe," Pascual told
the committee. "These product price linkages have remained firmly in place despite
significant changes in crude prices refined
within the domestic market."
Restrictions on U.S. crude exports al-

40 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

low refiners to extract a discount on WTI,
yet he said gasoline was priced on higher,
international Brent prices. "Allowing the
export of U.S. light oil would increase
the supply of light crudes that establish
the international Brent price benchmark,"
Pascual maintained. "As new crude supply
is added to the global market, the international price of crude will fall, putting
downward pressure on U.S. gasoline
prices."
Jobs And Investment
In its statement to the committee supporting lifting the export prohibition, the

National Stripper Well Association pointed
out the ban hurt operators' ability to finance, invest in, and advance domestic
energy production.
NSWA Chairman Mike Cantrell said
stripper well producers had struggled for
decades against international forces that
controlled global oil prices. He added
that much internationally traded oil was
controlled by a combination of foreign
governments and state-run corporations
that colluded to control prices to benefit
their own agendas.
Many stripper well operators and companies have been making massive investments in the United States' new era
of energy abundance, but Cantrell warned
the Senate committee that the crude oil
export ban made this more difficult.
Expanding oil exports into a free
market will help make the world safer
by selling U.S. goods to the nation's
allies, he continued. Those exports will
free U.S. allies from depending on nation
states that are not friendly to the United
States, Cantrell added.
"Allow our domestic energy producers
to compete with those foreign, stateowned corporations on the international
market," he implored. "When America
competes on the world market, Americans
win. When given the opportunity, our
skills, work ethic and abilities make the
United States the most productive and
successful nation on earth. The energy
industry is no exception."
The Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance told the committee that
lifting the ban would help save more
than a 1 million U.S. jobs put at risk by
the drop in oil prices. In addition to the
job loss, EEIA said the global marketplace
set the prices paid by U.S. consumers
and businesses for domestically refined
products.
EEIA President Toby Mack noted the
Saudi Arabian Oil Co. had been reported
to be posting job advertisements seeking
to hire recently terminated U.S. shale oil
workers in order to acquire knowledge
for developing Saudi shale reserves.
"The export ban is a zero-sum game
where America loses, and those who
often do not have our best interests in
mind, win," Mack said. "Repealing the
export ban is the most important action
policymakers can take to mitigate and
limit these losses."
On the other side of the table, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
released a study it commissioned that
argued U.S. refiners had more than enough
processing capacity to handle larger amounts
of light sweet crude oil. According to the
report, respondents to an AFPM survey
indicated they intended to increase their

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2015

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