Senate panel votes to lift crude export ban

OREANDA-NEWS. July 31, 2015. The US Senate today moved closer to voting on two major energy bills that would lift decades-old restrictions on crude exports and make comprehensive changes to federal energy policies that include measures to expedite natural gas infrastructure permitting.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee after three days of debate voted to advance both bills out of committee. Republicans pushed through the crude export bill in a party line 12-10 vote. The comprehensive energy bill passed with broad bipartisan support in an 18-4 vote.

The move sets up potential votes by the full Senate once lawmakers return to the Capitol after a month-long summer break that begins as soon as tomorrow. But the bills could face difficulty getting time for debate on the Senate floor because of an already crowded legislative schedule.

The Senate calendar is already packed with a long list of must-pass legislation that includes federal spending bills, an increase to the US limit on borrowing authority and a vote on whether to approve or disapprove the Iran nuclear deal.

"I have to make sure the majority leader understands the significance and the priority that we attach to advancing energy legislation for the first time in eight years," committee chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said this morning before the committee voted to approve the bills.

The committee's Republican majority worked with Democrats for months on the comprehensive energy bill in an effort to build bipartisan support and during mark-up this week committed to block controversial amendments. The energy bill would try to expedite permitting of LNG export facilities and natural gas pipelines and reaffirm a policy that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should only be sold during a supply disruption. It also includes provisions to support energy efficiency and electric grid reliability.

Enacting the energy bill will require the House of Representatives to pass its own legislation and to also avoid a veto threat from President Barack Obama's administration. Despite the hurdles for the bill, Murkowski said she was optimistic that the legislation could be enacted.

"I am sure if the administration looked long and hard enough through this bill that we have put together that they could find one piece they do not like," Murkowski said. "I can find pieces I do not like, but how productive is that? Do not stop us before we get started."

The separate bill to lift crude export restrictions, introduced by Murkowski and called the OPEN Act, also would open up more offshore areas in the Gulf of Mexico to drilling and provide states with a greater share of royalty revenues from energy production that takes place off their coasts.

Murkowski has pushed to lift crude export restrictions, citing concerns that it suppresses US crude prices and makes gasoline more expensive.

Some Democrats said they could support lifting crude export restrictions it the measure was tied to legislative changes that support other types of energy resources. Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) spoke generally in favor of lifting the restriction but wanted to ensure consumers did not pay higher gasoline prices. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with Democrats, said he may support the bill if it included an extension of tax credits for renewable energy.

"While this bill might be justified, it is totally unbalanced," King said.

The royalty sharing provisions in the crude export bill also raised concerns that it would cut revenues for the federal government. It includes "revenue sharing that we cannot afford," said the committee's ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Washington).