The U.S. Energy Information Administration, a division of the Energy Department, is expected to issue a report today that provides support to efforts by the United States oil industry to end the four-decade ban on exports of U.S. oil. The effort to lift the ban has gained momentum in Washington this year, and is expected to pass the Republican-controlled House. The Senate is expected to take up the issue in 2016. President Obama’s administration appears to support the lifting of the ban as evidenced by the Energy Department’s anticipated report.
The conclusions in the report were widely anticipated by the oil industry.
Republican Congressmen have been proponents of ending the ban, and in recent weeks, key Democrats have expressed a willingness to support oil exports as part of a broader legislative deal. Still, it is not currently clear what type of deal would have to be reached to garner both parties’ support of lifting the ban.