OKLAHOMA CITY — Water cooler banter at the average American workplace doesn’t often turn to the federal restrictions on the export of crude oil and natural gas. It’s even obscure in Washington, D.C. But here at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, taking place in the heart of petroleum country, opposing the export restrictions is de rigeur among presidential candidates.
Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz, Rick Perry and Chris Christie all attacked the federal laws that restrict the export of oil and natural gas. This is obviously an important issue in the oil patch. Restricting exports restricts demand. That keeps prices down — which is why chemical companies like Dow and DuPont, as well as refineries, lobby so hard to preserve the export ban (you see, the export of refined petroleum products is allowed).
The candidates all presented petroleum export as a matter of national security, arguing that Vladimir Putin is currently using natural gas a weapon and diplomatic cudgel in Europe and Asia. If the U.S. begins exporting natural gas, the argument goes, Putin will lose much of his leverage.
It shows how presidential politics forces politicians to take up policy stances that matter only on a regional basis. Export of petroleum is to Oklahoma what ethanol is Iowa — except in Oklahoma, the pressure is to take the free-market side.
