Among the issues surrounding a proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver is one currently bubbling in the halls of Congress.
Thursday, the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on a proposal to lift a 40-year-old ban on the export of crude oil. The ban was established as a reaction to the OPEC oil crisis of the 1970s, and its removal would have vast economic and environmental impacts. Those impacts would be particularly acute locally as they relate to the proposed Vancouver terminal.
The Port of Vancouver has reached an agreement with Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies — collectively working as Vancouver Energy — to build the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal. The plan calls for a facility that could transfer up to 360,000 barrels of crude per day — about 15 million gallons — from oil trains to marine vessels for transport down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. The proposal is undergoing review from state regulators and will be sent to Gov. Jay Inslee, who will have the final say.
The companies involved say the crude would be shipped to West Coast refineries, but critics have suggested that the long-term plan is to position Tesoro and Savage for overseas exporting. In a meeting with The Columbian’s Editorial Board late last year, Dan Riley, vice president of government affairs for Tesoro, said that the economics of the industry dictate sending the crude to domestic refineries. That provides little solace, however, as Riley added that there is “nothing written into the contract” to prevent crude from being shipped overseas.