Punishing Putin Fuels Energy-Export Drive in Congress

[Purveyor]

By Jim Snyder and Brian Wingfield Mar 25, 2014 11:54 AM ET

In the decades after the Arab oil embargo, the U.S. restricted energy exports to promote self sufficiency as a matter of national security.

Now Russia’s annexation of Crimea and massing of troops on the Ukrainian border is fueling a push in Congress to remove those limits to punish President Vladimir Putin.

“In the 70s, we argued that for the sake of national security we have to prohibit exports,” Michael Webber, deputy director of the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an interview. “Now we argue that for the sake of national security we have to allow exports. Our mind has flipped in 40 years.”

Three congressional committees are holding hearings this week on whether the U.S. should sell more of its growing oil and gas resources overseas, in part to lessen European dependence on Russian oil and gas. Europe imports about 30 percent of its natural gas from Russia through pipelines that cross Ukraine.
‘Energy Superpower’

The once-unthinkable idea of exporting large amounts of U.S. oil and natural gas has gained support as advances in drilling techniques leave the U.S. poised to surpass Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s largest producer of crude by 2015, according to projections by the International Energy Agency. In November, the U.S. produced more oil than it imported for the first time since 1995.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-25/punishing-putin-fuels-energy-export-drive-in-congress.html

[atreides1]

1. No

After all the screaming done by the Republicans about how we have to be energy independent...and now they want to sell what we have!

Once again it's about the $$$!!!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

2. What if we could satisfy our own requirements and sell enough to undercut Putin?

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. The US can't satisfy its own requirements even with 11 million barrels a day in oil production

the US is self-sufficient in natural gas, but when it comes to oil still uses over seven million barrels a day more than what it produces.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

6. If I'm not mistaken, Putin's pipeline to Western Europe is also nat-gas

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. The pipeline is natural gas, yes

oil goes by tanker through the Turkish Straits to Livorno and Marseilles and Rotterdam. And by pipeline to Germany (that pipeline doesn't run through Ukraine because it terminates further north).



And here's the top importers of Russian crude:



Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland together account for around 2.8 million barrels a day. (and possibly more, now, since that data is a few years old.)

[GeorgeGist]

4. CONTROLLING THE LNG SUPPLY CHAIN FROM WELL BORE TO LIQUEFACTION

United LNG, LP is a privately held company located in Houston, Texas. We hold the largest FTA LNG export permit in the United States at 24 MTPA. Our primary focus is to control the LNG supply chain from well bore to liquefaction.

[LittleBlue]

5. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Rethugs are using this as an excuse to drive up our energy prices. Their goal is to squeeze more profit from the American citizens. We already import oil, don't let it be exported!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

8. Absolutely not. We use more than we produce and are importing the rest. It makes no sense

to then sell our stuff to the EU.

Another thing, the United States is experiencing an increase in crude oil production as a by-product of natural gas shale production in tight formations where some oil is present in the gas deposits - ie: Bakken, Barnett, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, and others. These gas wells are notorious for short production lifespans and won't last forever. The spike in U.S. gas and oil production is also just that, a spike.

The only reason to sell our stuff to the EU is for the profit potential with no regard for the long-term consequences.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

9. Oil is our #3 export today

Of course this will happen. Oil independence and National Security are slogans not policy; policy is profit driven...because energy is privatized and corporations are the policy makers.

http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top_us_exports.html