Sen. Murkowski: Iran Deal Will Disadvantage U.S. Energy
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today advanced her efforts to lift the current ban on most U.S. crude oil exports by releasing a report making the case that sanctions on Iranian oil should not be lifted without also lifting the current ban on U.S. crude oil exports. The report, Cross-Currents: Iranian Oil and the U.S. Export Ban, connects the dots between Obama Administration statements to support this argument.
“We are letting Iran export its oil to markets that we prevent our own companies from accessing,” Murkowski said. “Any deal that lifts sanctions on Iranian oil will disadvantage American companies unless we lift the antiquated ban on our own oil exports. The impending deal with Iran is at the center of the nexus between national security and energy policy.”
The release follows another Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee report released earlier this month, Rendering Vital Assistance: Allowing Oil Shipments to U.S. Allies, which laid out the regulatory basis for other nations to request exemptions from U.S. oil export restrictions. Earlier this year, Murkowski and Sen. Heitkamp, D-N.D., introduced S. 1312, the Energy Supply and Distribution Act, which received a legislative hearing at the Energy Committee on June 9.
