API touts benefits of lifting 70s-era trade restrictions on oil

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2015 ─ API urged lawmakers to lift outdated trade restrictions on U.S. oil as America becomes the number one producer in the world.
    
“A new era of energy abundance, born of innovation, has created a once-in-a-generation chance for America to cement its future as an energy superpower,” said API President and CEO Jack Gerard. “But evidence is mounting that 70’s-era trade limits are damaging America’s economic potential. Study after study shows that blocking trade in crude oil harms consumers at the pump, the economy, and our trade balance. It also limits job creation, and it undermines America’s role as a global leader in energy.
   
“By opening the doors to trade, we can provide a counter to other nations that use their energy production as a geopolitical tool, even as we increase our own energy security. The economics of free trade are in America’s favor, and increased global competition for market share has only helped to put this issue into focus. Policymakers who support America’s future as an energy superpower have shown they are ready to act, and we urge the Senate to make this a top priority in the year ahead.”
     
API is the only national trade association representing all facets of the oil and natural gas industry, which supports 9.8 million U.S. jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy. API’s more than 625 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation’s energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 30 million Americans.