It says that exporting oil is saving jobs and that there is nothing any President can do about this except possibly pressure oil companies through pressure behind the scenes.
As gas prices rise, should US oil industry stop exporting?
US gas prices are soaring and domestic demand is falling. The oil industry says it needs to export to stay in business and avoid layoffs. Others claim that keeps supply low and gas prices high.
~snip~
But, when it comes to oil industry exports of gasoline, there may not be many policy options for Obama unless he wants to start to interfere with the marketplace.
“I don’t think there are any powers the president has that allow him to do that by statute or otherwise,” says Charles Ebinger, director of the Energy Security Initiative at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “I guess behind the scenes he could jawbone the industry to ask them to stop exporting for the good of the nation.”
Mr. Ebinger says the oil industry might want to scale back the exports since “it’s not the best public relations in the world to export when prices are rising at home.”
~snip~
If the exports were not taking place, Ebinger at Brookings says it might be possible to argue the refiners would be flooding the market with gasoline which would reduce prices. “If people knew there was a surplus of gasoline, you might get some entrepreneurs in to sell it at lower prices to stimulate demand,” he says.
But, Felmy says that’s not what would happen. He says if the refiners can’t make money, they will have to mothball their operations and layoff workers. The exports are producing jobs, he says. He points out the Gulf Coast refiners are now producing a record amount of gasoline, thanks to the exports.
~snip~
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0223/As-gas-prices-rise-should-US-oil-industry-stop-exporting
And:
The U.S. Is Now EXPORTING Refined Petroleum Products, But the Oil Companies Are Gaming the System By Switching To a Different Benchmark to Keep U.S. Fuel Prices HIGH … And the Keystone Pipeline Will Create Even HIGHER U.S. Prices
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/05/the-u-s-is-exporting-oil-but-the-oil-companies-have-switched-to-a-different-benchmark-to-keep-u-s-oil-prices-high-and-keystone-will-allowe-even-higher-u-s-prices.html
And:
As Gas Prices Rise, Republicans Once Again Propose Big Oil ‘Solutions’ That Don’t Solve The Problem
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/09/06/799631/gas-prices-politica/
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