As executive director of Producers for American Crude Oil Exports, I’m responding to the March 23 editorial, “Exporting oil bad idea: Lift ban on crude export? Big Oil would win, consumers, environment would lose.” The editorial fails to inform readers of a few basic facts about crude oil exports and the associated economic benefits.
Nearly a dozen entities, from academia to think tanks to the federal government, have studied this issue and determined that the price of gasoline in the U.S. is tied to the international price, not the domestic price, of crude oil. By adding U.S. crude oil to the global supply, there would be corresponding downward pressure put on the international — and domestic — price of gasoline. In fact, a recent study from Columbia University found that this reduction could be up to 12 cents per gallon.
Secondly, given America’s energy renaissance, we are now producing more light crude oil than we have the capacity to refine. Selling this surplus oil to trading partners and allies would strengthen our geopolitical standing in the world.
A recent analysis from IHS Inc. found that Washington state stands to gain nearly 13,000 support and supply chain jobs — mostly in the IT field — and $2 billion in gross state product through crude oil exports.
