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Posted on 01/18/2015 9:22:47 AM PST by SoConPubbie
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is apparently causing headaches for his fellow Republican senators once again by pushing what many consider a sensible policy at what some call an inopportune time, according to a Sunday story in the Washington Examiner. Instead of repealing Obamacare or curtailing immigration, Cruz is proposing an amendment to the Keystone XL Pipeline authorization bill that would lift the 39-year ban on crude oil exports. The question, which many Republican senators have, is this the right time and is Keystone XL the right vehicle?
As has previously been the case, Cruz has the facts on his side. The Wall Street Journal points out that lifting the ban would likely increase the supply of crude on the world market, thus lowering its price. American refiners do not have enough capacity to process light, sweet crude. Opening up world markets to American oil would provide an incentive for American producers to drill.
However, a widespread public perception exists that allowing oil into the world markets would drive up the cost of petroleum products in the United States. That fact is causing Republican senators to get anxious about ending the ban. Indeed polling data exists that suggest that the public overwhelmingly oppose lifting the ban.
“Sixty-nine percent of Americans ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly’ oppose sending more oil and natural gas abroad, according to a poll of 1,101 likely voters in the 2016 elections released Thursday by left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress. On top of that, 71 percent of respondents — including 69 percent of Republicans — thought ending the oil export ban ‘would only increase gas prices here at home while making oil companies richer.’”
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
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People in this country are ignorant of basic economics.
And the GOP is too stupid to educate them on its benefits.
Refining crude is something we do well in the US and it makes for a lot of jobs. Why should be not refine every drop of crude we can and sell the refined products on the world market? Buy crude, sell refined products. Entrepreneurs would build more capacity if they could sell more product and then we would not have to worry about exporting crude.
Cruz doesn’t worry about McConnell’s “timetable.” When he wants to do things, he does them.
It’s the beginning of a new congress and there’s an oil bill before the senate. When exactly would be a good time? When McConnell and his minions could bottle up any amendment from a conservative?
Gruber was right. The majority of American’s are stupid.
The ban should be lifted, thus increasing the incentives to produce American oil, thus creating more jobs, stimulating the economy and reducing money to terrorist supporting nations.
Our educational system is a mess, but the material they have to work with isn’t so great, either.
“American refiners do not have enough capacity to process light, sweet crude.”
Build more refineries!?
But where in America would they be allowed to build more capacity? The globull/climate change, liberal greentards would make it impossible for any new refinery capacity to be built.
Nah, it’s better that we continue to suck at the teat of the volatile Middle East and protect the rare snail-darter from greedy oil executives < /Chuck U Schumer >
Except the libtards would be more than happy to have all of our private/state land crude exported while restricting drilling on fed land to drive up the price of gas.
We would just wind up with higher prices here which is their goal.
Our problem is that 99% of the media don’t correctly inform the low info voters.
How to do so?
When all the new small oil companies and drillers who came online during the fracking boom go broke because of the oil crash, consumers will be paying more to Big Oil, which can set the price where they need it to keep their stock holders happy. Driving the small players out of business is exactly the wrong thing for the consumer, because it limits competition and supply.
Yes, in all those new, modern, state-of-the-art refineries we've built in the last decade...
/sarc
Why can't folks figure out that we can destroy OPEC by selling U.S. crude outside the U.S.?
“Refining crude is something we do well in the US and it makes for a lot of jobs. Why should be not refine every drop of crude we can and sell the refined products on the world market?”
This also brings to mind another raw material: trees
Trees get harvested, sold as a raw product to the Chinese, who then have large lumber milling ships off shore. They turn around and sell us the lumber made from those trees.
Build more refineries...
The US does export some Alaskan oil
I suspect it would be quite difficult to build new refineries with EPA regulations as they are. Existing refineries are not set up to refine light crude now being produced. It makes no sense not to be able to export.
Granted, refineries in the US are aged. Why is that? It could not possibly be due to over regulation and politicians repetitively making “big oil” a boogyman, could it? I have never understood why it is terrible for an oil company to make 8 cents per gallon profit but okay for the government to tax that same gallon over 18 cents...
It did...temporarily.
When an oil glut developed on the West Coast during the Clinton administration, a bill was passed allowing the export of some Alaskan oil.
However, the decline in Alaskan oil production has eliminated the glut and the West Coast oil refineries are having to "import" Bakken crude to fulfill their needs.
At this point, I don't think any Alaskan crude is being exported.
Ted Cruz Oil Export Ping!
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