House Democrats said to be open to lifting U.S. oil export ban

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats are now open to lifting the 40-year-ban on U.S. crude-oil exports, negotiating with Republicans in hopes of extracting trade-offs in exchange for a top Republican priority, a Democratic leadership aide said Monday.

 

Bipartisan leaders in the Senate were already near a deal and faced resistance from House Democrats and some Republicans. On Monday, House Democrats said they were willing to discuss a plan, depending on what concessions they would get in exchange, the aide said.

 

Such a plan would likely be constructed to allow Congress to pass the legislation without House Democratic votes, the aide said.

 

That would leave another major sticking point: whether fiscal conservative Republicans in the House will go along.

 

Republicans’ success in lifting the trade restrictions -- a major priority for the party as well as U.S. oil producers -- depends "on the architecture of the final deal," said Kevin Book, managing director of ClearView Energy Partners.

 

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Monday that the administration continues to oppose lifting the export ban, though he wouldn’t say whether President Barack Obama would veto a fiscal accord that included the change.