|
 Murkowski, the Republican chairwoman of the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, said she will unveil the bill on
Tuesday, although it was uncertain when the measure would get a vote
in her committee.
"I am going to be looking for every opportunity we might have to
advance it," Murkowski said in a press conference.
The bill will be a "great talking opportunity at a minimum."
The legislation, which faces opposition from Democrats including Ed
Markey and Robert Menendez, could eventually take the form of a
free-standing measure or as an amendment to another wider bill on
trade or another issue.
She could also use the bill as a way to push the Obama
administration "to use tools they have at their disposal," to relax
the ban, Murkowski said.
The U.S. Commerce Department late last year cracked open oil exports
by issuing guidelines to energy companies on what kind of minimally
processed light crude called condensate they can export under the
ban. But oil producers want the Congress and the administration to
fully repeal the trade restriction.
Unless the ban is reversed, they say, a building glut of U.S. light
crude will choke off the drilling boom of the last five years, push
thousands of people out of work, and hurt the economy.
[to top of second column] |
Murkowski has been one of the biggest supporters of reversing the
ban Congress passed in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo led to fears
of energy shortages. She tried to add an amendment to reverse the
ban to the Senate's bill to review any deal with Iran over its
nuclear program, but the measure was rejected.
Murkowski on Thursday introduced a flurry of 17 bills on other
energy issues, from strengthening the power grid to improving
efficiency, in a quest to pass broad legislation later this year.
Democratic Senators Maria Cantwell and Ron Wyden also introduced
bills on bolstering the energy grid on Thursday.
(Editing by Eric Walsh)
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