Why Limiting U.S. Energy Exports Would Only Worsen Domestic Supply Problems

Another active week in the energy space ended with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the CEO of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, was having to waste his time arguing with officials at the U.S. Department of Energy about their apparent ongoing desire to limit U.S. exports of crude oil and other fuels, even liquefied natural gas (LNG). Quoting from a letter Mr. Woods sent to DOE, the CEO said that “Continuing current Gulf Coast exports is essential to efficiently rebalance markets—particularly with diverted Russian supplies. Reducing global supply by limiting U.S. exports to build region-specific inventory will only aggravate the global supply shortfall.”