The United States passed another milestone on the way to lifting a ban on crude oil exports as the lower house of Congress voted in favour on Friday.
The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 261 to 159 and was cheered by its supporters, which includes most of the larger integrated oil companies as well as smaller producers.
But the bill’s ultimate passage is still unclear as the Senate is more evenly divided and the White House, which has veto power, remains opposed.
Any lifting of the ban would weigh further on an already saturated world oil market, though non-US oil producers have remained silent for fear of adding fuel to the pro-lifting lobby’s case.
The effort to lift the ban – which has been in place since the oil price shocks of the 1970s – was boosted this year when Lisa Murkowski of oil-dependent Alaska was appointed chairwoman of the Senate’s energy committee.
In August, she won a vote in committee to have the bill sent for a full vote in the Senate.
Those arguing in favour of lifting the restrictions include Doug Suttles, the chief executive of Encana and leader of one group of companies lobbying for the law change.
He has conceded that it might lead to higher crude oil prices, but contends it won't necessarily translate to higher petrol prices that would hurt US consumers. Those opposing the bill argue that it will hit consumers and could cost jobs in refining. "Polls show that most Americans do not want to export US crude, and the partisan divide in the House vote today reflects that fact," said Jay Hauck, a spokesman for The Crude Coalition, which represents a number of refiners.
“Every American household is saving $700 or more this year from lower fuel prices because refiners are passing on savings to US consumers,” Mr Hauck said.
Among those also opposing are unions including US Steelworkers and environmental organisations such as The Sierra Club.
Last week, the US energy secretary Ernest Moniz told Congress that studies showed lifting the ban would have a very limited effect and that the administration regarded moving towards low-carbon energy as a higher priority.
amcauley@thenational.ae
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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