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 The Republican senator has fought to relax the ban all year by
issuing a series of papers detailing how such exports have been
allowed in the past, holding a private meeting on the subject with
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and hinting that 2015 could be
the time to introduce ban-ending legislation.
When it became clear on Tuesday night that her fellow Republicans
had won control of the Senate, Murkowski, at a party in Anchorage,
gleefully held a chair over her head, proclaiming she was the
chairman of the energy committee.
But upon taking the reins, Murkowski's first steps to roll back the
ban, imposed by Congress after the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s,
are expected to involve holding hearings, pressuring Obama
administration officials, and testing the level of support from
party leadership.
"Murkowski probably could get a bill out of her committee if she
pushed really hard, but that would be terribly impolitic because
then she would be putting (new Senate Majority Leader) Mitch
McConnell, and potentially some of her colleagues, in a difficult
position " said Kevin Book, a policy analyst at ClearView Energy
Partners.
 The current shale drilling boom has put the United States in a
position to become the world's largest crude oil producer. Support
in Congress for overturning the export ban has risen slightly as
light crude, difficult for domestic refiners to process with current
equipment, floods the Gulf Coast.
In September, U.S. Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican and
former chairman of the House Energy Committee, came out in favor of
lifting the ban.
But many Republicans have been slow to take a position. Some worry
about the impact on oil refiners, which could see higher costs if
some of the abundant supply of U.S. crude oil is shipped abroad.
The possibility that domestic gasoline prices could rise, angering
voters, has also made lawmakers wary, although several studies
suggest exports by themselves would not lead to higher U.S. prices
at the pump.
Murkowski spokesman Robert Dillon said she does not yet have a
specific timeline on oil exports, but repeated that legislation
would be needed if the administration does not overturn the ban. He
said Murkowski will not talk much about oil exports until January.
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Murkowski will have other issues on her plate, too, including
pushing for faster approvals of U.S. natural gas exports and holding
hearings on the Interior Department's budget.
Even if the White House lifts a hold at the Department of Commerce
on more than 20 applications for exports of condensate, a
minimally-processed light oil, or relaxes the ban by allowing swaps
of light oil in exchange for heavy oil more appropriate for domestic
refiners, pressure will still be on Murkowski.
More than a dozen oil producers, including ConocoPhillips,
Continental Resources Inc, and Hess Corp teamed up last month to
form Producers for American Crude Exports (PACE), to lobby Congress
to reverse the ban. Only legislation will provide certainty the ban
will be lifted for good, the group said.
Murkowski's year of experience fighting the ban could give her an
opening to introduce legislation in the second half of 2015, said
Bruce Oppenheimer, a professor at Vanderbilt University who focuses
on energy politics.
"If you carve out a niche for yourself in the Senate in terms of
policy expertise and you get things incubating ... often you get an
opening where you can do something," he said.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Ros Krasny and Marguerita
Choy)
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