[theDentist]

As I recall (and I may be wrong) the oil being sent overseas was so it could be refined in a factory that handled high concentrations of other chemicals (perhaps sulpher someone mentioned before). This was because none of the refineries in western half of lower 48 could handle it.
But again, I may be wrong.

[RightWhale]

That’s interesting but there are several refineries in Alaska that seem to be handling the stuff. Indeed, international jet freighters land here every day to refuel on product made from that bad stuff and even my Toyota runs okay on it.

[thackney]

As I recall (and I may be wrong) the oil being sent overseas was so it could be refined in a factory that handled high concentrations of other chemicals (perhaps sulpher someone mentioned before). This was because none of the refineries in western half of lower 48 could handle it.

It ships to the US, see post 17. Alaskan North Slope has a Sulfur content of ~1.1%, less than the typical 2% from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela. See table 2, page 9 for comparisons.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/2006publications/CEC-600-2006-006/CEC-600-2006-006.PDF