The ban was meant to control a strategic commodity. It is why we have the SPR. Of course, at the time, we imported almost 50% of our oil.
The real question is how economically viable it will be given the current glut of oil. OPEC has in the past increased production to put US domestic oil production out of business.
The ban was part of the nonsense of price controls and other government overreach.
It is why we have the SPR.
The SPR is a governmental function, national security. The export ban pushes investment and jobs overseas.
The real question is how economically viable it will be given the current glut of oil.
The confusion in that statement is regarding all oil as the same. The Gulf Coast has an abundance of expensive light sweet and many refineries optimized for cheaper heavy sour. Exporting the surplus expensive oil and importing the cheaper oil makes a lot of sense, lower US prices, higher US profits and more US jobs.
Could a price war develop because of this ?