A drilling rig pumps oil near Tyler, Texas, on March 24. (Clint Jones, Tyler Morning Telegraph/Associated Press)
Re: “Ban on oil exports should be lifted,” April 13 editorial.
Your editorial makes the unsubstantiated claim that oil exports will result in both increased production and lower prices. It is far more likely that exports will increase oil and gasoline prices, partly because U.S. consumers will have to compete with overseas buyers for our own oil. As long as we are still importing close to 40 percent of the crude oil we consume, it makes no sense to export oil. Our imports will go up, worsening our trade deficit and making us more dependent on foreign oil. Big Oil may win by exporting oil; they need higher prices to justify capital investment in expensive shale and deep-water oil. But U.S. consumers will lose. Letap keep our oil right here at home. We still need it.
Tom Atkins,Golden
This letter was published in the April 17 edition.
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