New rules on light oil exports open markets for U.S. producers
The U.S. government has issued a set of guidelines for the export of ultra-light U.S. oil, essentially clearing the way for crude exports to a global market for the first time in 40 years.
The Department of Commerce said Tuesday that it has approved requests by some companies to export lightly refined condensates and has begun approving a backlog of requests to sell light oil overseas.
- U.S. crude production to hit 45-year high in 2015
- Unrefined oil exports approved by U.S. on limited basis
It also published rules on how it will treat further requests for permission to export oil, saying their light condensate crude that is put through a distillation tower will be eligible for export.
The shale oil taken from the Bakken formation in North Dakota is light oil and processing in a distillation tower can be done simply in the field.
Domestic drillers have complained that they are selling their shale oil at a discount of as much as $15 a barrel to the global price because domestic production has outstripped U.S. demand.
The U.S. has blocked the export of crude since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, except for oil sent to Canada or certain products from Alaska and California. While untreated crude oil cannot be exported, refined fuels such as gasoline and diesel can be freely sold abroad.
But earlier this year, the Department of Commerce approved a limited export of light crude. The rules issued Tuesday opens the door for more such exports.
"In practice this long-awaited move can open up the floodgates to substantial increases in exports by end 2015," Ed Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup in New York said in a research note.
The new ruling could mean up to a million barrels a day of U.S. ultra-light oil could be heading for global markets.
Places such as Ukraine and European countries dependent on Russian oil may benefit.
But the move will complicate the oversupply of crude oil worldwide, which has led to a precipitous drop in oil prices from $107 US a barrel in June to just above $50 a barrel today.