US oil firms seen lobbying Washington for lifting of export ban

Washington

ABOUT a dozen US drilling executives, including ConocoPhillips chief executive officer Ryan Lance, were in Washington this week trying to persuade White House officials and lawmakers to lift the 40-year ban on US oil exports, according to two people familiar with the meetings.

Chief executives from the lobbying group Producers for American Crude Oil Exports, or Pace, met with White House senior energy policy adviser Brian Deese on March 11 to ask the Obama administration to roll back a prohibition on most US oil exports imposed after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, according to two people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions weren't public.