Congressional leaders agree to lift oil-export ban
(OilJobsND) – U.S. congressional leaders agreed to lift the nation’s 40-year-old ban on oil exports, a long-sought victory for the oil industry. This is a huge win for oil companies, workers, pretty much everybody in the industry. The 40 year ban is set to end in a matter of hours. The measure is at the center of a deal Republican leaders announced on tax and spending legislation. Democrats haven’t confirmed the agreement, which must still be passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama. It does look pretty promising though as the Dem’s’ will get some things they wanted.
This late night meeting included some wheeling and dealing that includes the Republican priority of lifting the ban and the Democratic goal of adopting environmental and renewable-energy measures. The lifting of the ban would end market distortions, stimulate the U.S. economy and boost national security. The lifted ban would turn North Dakota and Texas upside down. With the amount of oil we are sitting on in the Bakken and in Texas, this makes us powerful, very powerful. With the end of the export ban, this lets the U.S. jump in the battle for market share in world oil shaped by prices. OPEC is basically a nobody if this comes to fruition. They will no longer be the oil price bully they’ve always been. Either way, it’s only a matter of time before OPEC realizes they can’t win this war. The war may have been started by OPEC, but we’re going to finish it.
This is great news for employees in the oil and gas industry throughout North Dakota and Texas. With oil prices tanking over the last year, too many people have been left without a job. This may just be the Christmas Miracle we need to get people back to work. Thousands of people have left North Dakota and returned home, empty-handed. This will fire up the industry and get people back to work. The news is huge, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Oil companies will be chomping at the bit to pump as much oil as possible with the ban lifted. This means companies are going to go into a hiring frenzy, just like they did when the boom first got going several years ago. Now would be a good time to freshen up your resume.
Texas will be positioned well to capitalize on the export ban deal. With their infrastructure for the most part in place, exports will be smooth sailing. You can be sure there will be new pipelines popping up all over the place, from the Eagle Ford to The Permian Basin, production will be ramped up like you’ve never seen once the prices hit the magic number. Millions of new jobs will created in the longterm between all the oil plays and all the trickle down business involved in the oil and gas industry.
If the ban is lifted we can only hope for the best. Let’s get North Dakota’s rig count back up in the 200 area. This will create thousands of new jobs that pay extremely well. There are a couple of projects for building new refineries in North Dakota on hold due to the slide in oil prices. If these come back online, North Dakota and Texas will be the new Saudi Arabia. The amount of oil in North Dakota and Texas is staggering, to say the least. Talks of a refinery being constructed in the Minot area, and the Devils Lake area would most likely resume very quickly. The new oil boom that could be heading to North Dakota and Texas will make the previous one seem like it was just a blip on the radar. Share this post and then take a look at our other posts. If you’re interested in finding yourself an entry-level job that starts out at $100k a year, take a look at the jobs on the site. These jobs change lives.
Update
The 40-year old ban on US oil exports has officially ended as of this Friday afternoon. The deal was wrapped in a $1.1 trillion spending bill that President Barack Obama signed into law Friday afternoon right after the Senate passed the measure.
The lifting of the export ban was linked to legislation on Tuesday. The bill will give the president the proper authority to stop oil exports for one year if 1. he or she declares a national emergency, or 2. declares that the crude exports are raising US oil prices or causing a domestic oil shortage.
Obama was not on board with this in the past, but ended up flip-flopping on the subject after the Republicans worked out some details and removed a few riders that included provisions to defund Planned Parenthood, scale back Obama’s environmental agenda, and curb the Dodd-Frank financial regulations. Obama voiced his opinion on the deal stating it wasn’t quite what he wanted, but will work for now and enable congress to work together on future projects. With the passing of this bill, it will allow the US government to continue functioning through September 2016, ending the threat of a shutdown in the near future. The bill passed early today on a 65-33 vote in the senate. Earlier in the day, the House passed the measure with a vote of 316-113.
The long-term aftershocks from this bill will position the US to be a major force in controlling the oil markets. When OPEC goes broke, and it will, the US will be right there to step in and take the reins. The amount of oil reserves in the US is staggering. Peak oil, what peak oil?
