BP Finds Way To Bypass US Crude Export Ban 247
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Bloomberg reports that the oil industry is pressuring President Barack Obama to end the 41-year-old ban on most crude exports but British Petroleum (BP) isn't waiting for a decision. The British oil giant has signed on to take at least 80 percent of the capacity of a new $360 million mini-refinery in Houston that will process crude just enough to escape restrictions on sales outside the country. 'It's a relatively inexpensive way around the export prohibition,' says Judith Dwarkin 'You can lightly ruffle the hydrocarbons and they are considered processed and then they aren't subject to the ban.' Amid a flood of new US oil, the demand for simple, one-step plants capable of transforming raw crude into exportable products such as propane is feeding a construction boom along the Gulf Coast. The first such mini-refinery, built for 1/10 the cost of a complex, full-scale refinery, is scheduled to open the first phase of its 100,000 barrel-a-day crude processing plant in July, The mini-refineries take advantage of the law that allows products refined from oil to be sold overseas, though not the raw crude itself. 'The international buyers of these products will likely need to refine them further, so this is basically a veiled form of condensate exports,' says Leo Mariani."
Take a lesson from Mr. Vader (Score:5, Funny)
The more you tighten your grip, the more will slip through your fingers.
Re:Typical Bureau Land Mgt BS (Score:3, Funny)
Our foriegn policy is so nakedly hypocritical I am not sure it matters.
Obama wins an election rams through a policy that is unpopular with the majority loudly protested by a small minority and the line is "elections have consequences."
Egypt elects a leader (belonging to party we don't like) and before his elected term is up, the military is ousting him, but oh no "its a not coup" we are told; because it it was we would have to stop giving the Egyptian military foreign aide, which would leave us with no way funnel tax monies to the MIC so they can build tanks nobody actually wants or can use.
Ukraine, ditto, a lawfully elected leader there makes some unpopular decisions, (which might even be in the interest of his nation in terms of securing financial aide) and no its not "elections have consequences" its "he must step down".
(Not to say Morrsi and Yanakovich are good guys; and were not doing things to undermine the idea of a working republic themselves; but I stand by the notion that you can't have the precedent legitimate elected leaders can be removed ahead of time out side some previously codified legal process and get a working democracy/republic )
China gets to keep their most favored trade status no matter what human rights violations we think they are committing, no matter if the currency is being manipulated or not, etc.
The only "international law" that exists anymore amounts to: whatever is seen in the immediate short term interest of the sitting US Presidential Administration. Its been especially bad post Regan. At least back in the good ol'days of Regan and before when we wanted to illegally market goods on the international market or manipulate the politics of some foreign power the CIA or NSA had to do it in secret; and we made a show of at least pretending to take treaties seriously.
Re:Yes, but... (Score:2, Funny)
Mr free market this - free market that, suggesting that the gubmint should intervene to make his penis substitute more affordable. Hilarious.