White House studying crude oil exports

The White House is studying the impact of the long-standing ban on exporting crude oil and the implications of lifting such a ban, adviser John Podesta said.

Podesta said Thursday that the possibility of crude exports is “a topic that’s under consideration” in the Obama administration’s interagency research on the issue, Platts reported.

Officials are “taking an active look” at the oil production boom of recent years in places like Texas’s Eagle Ford formation and the strains that it places on capacity.

“We’re taking a look at that and deciding whether there’s potential for effective and economically utilizing that resource through a variety of different mechanisms,” Podesta said at a Columbia University event in New York City.

The United States has largely banned exporting crude oil since a 1973 law enacted in response to the embargo by OPEC. The Energy Department can issue a limited number of permits to export oil but has generally only allowed small amounts to go to Canada.

Some oil producers, along with the American Petroleum Institute have pushed for the ban to be lifted in recent years, as the U.S. has produced historic amounts of oil. It would take legislative action from Congress to overturn the ban.