MSCI Coalition Makes Progress To End Crude Oil Ban

Last week, Connecting the Dots outlined the benefits of ending the U.S. ban on crude oil exports. To promote ending the ban, last Wednesday representatives of the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance, (EEIA) which MSCI is a member of, met with staff members on the U.S. House Small Business Committee to discuss the issue. 

In a panel discussion, EEIA President Toby Mack outlined how lifting the ban would provide major business and employment opportunities for the supply chain’s tens of thousands of small businesses. Mack reported, “We estimate that there are no less than 120,000 shale energy supply chain companies in the U.S., at least 100,000 of which are small businesses. … [W]e project that of the major job and GDP gains forecast from lifting the export ban, small supply chain businesses would be responsible for creating at least half of them.” Mack also argued, “While some would claim that the crude oil industry is a game for big business, exactly the opposite is true. Companies in the supply chain, and the communities in which they operate, will benefit to an even greater extent than the producers themselves, as evidenced by the IHS – reported ratio of three jobs for one, and two dollars for one, in the supply chain versus at the producer level.” 

Please contact MSCI Vice President of Finance and Government Affairs Jonathan Kalkwarf for a copy of Mack’s testimony. The House Small Business Committee has scheduled a full committee hearing June 17 to discuss lifting the ban, for which EEIA will provide a witness from industry. 

According to Reuters, a recent Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Global Research report said there is “a more than 50 percent chance of repealing the ban over the next 24 months.” MSCI will continue to work with EEIA to outline the benefits of repealing this ban.