The U.S. could benefit from exporting its surplus light oil, which would further enhance economic development, reduce gasoline prices and improve global energy security, said an official of ConocoPhillips on Monday.
'We'd likely use most of our oil here at home, and we would only export the light oil and condensate surplus that doesn't match U.S. refining capacity,' the U.S. energy exploration and production giant's Chairman and CEO Ryan Lance said in a statement on ConocoPhillips' website.
According to the statement, the U.S. refineries invested billions of dollars to process heavy, sour crude oil, however light and condensate oil types, which increased in production, cannot be handled by those refineries.
'Exporting our excess light oil into the global market could reduce upward price pressure,' said Lance, adding that U.S. consumers could also benefit from lower prices on gasoline, heating oil and diesel fuel, whose prices are set by the global market.
'American consumers could expect to save $18 billion annually, while governmental entities could gain $1.3 trillion in revenue from higher federal, state and local taxes and royalties from 2016 to 2030,' he added in the statement.
U.S. production increased from seven to 10 million barrels of oil per day between 2008 and 2013, due to rapid growth in unconventional production of light oil and condensate from shale rock and tight sands, while further growth is expected, said the statement.
The U.S. has a ban on domestically produced crude oil exports since the 1970s when Arab oil producers gradually decreased their exports to western countries, and the oil-dependent U.S. economy struggled.
There has been increasing pressure from oil producers, interest groups and politicians in the U.S. for the last few months to lift the ban on crude oil exports.
'Enabling such exports requires lifting the federal government's outdated 1970s-era export ban, implemented at a time when U.S. oil production was falling,' said the statement.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency