The Commerce Department has updated its export policy to allow crude oil to be shipped overseas without a special permit for the first time in 40 years.
The change comes after Congress passed a spending bill last week lifting the 40-year-old ban on oil exports that President Obama signed into law Friday.
The agency said in an updated policy memo that a “license is no longer required to export crude oil.”
The ban was put into place in the 1970s in response to the Arab oil embargo. Under the 40-year-old law, a company wishing to ship oil required permission from the Commerce Department, which would provide a limited license to export after a review period. Now that process is removed.
Republicans had been pushing for the change, arguing that the export restrictions are no longer required, given the boon in oil production from shale. The export restrictions were put in place during a time when oil was scarce in the U.S., and the nation was dependent on imports from the Mideast and other countries.
Under the Commerce Department’s updated policy, exporters are reminded that shipments to “embargoed or sanctioned countries or persons … continue to require authorization,” but that is the only exception.
Export regulations must be amended to reflect the change, but that is expected to happen soon, the memo states.
