Looks like low oil prices aren’t the only thing costing folks like Andy their jobs down in the Eagle Ford. It’s not Obozo, much as he and his Green base would like to quash the fracking boom. No, says the WSJ’s Holman Jenkins, it’s the 40-year-old hangover from the 1970s oil embargoes: laws banning export of American oil.
“Oil has been one of the few boom industries in Obama’s America, creating a disproportionate share of new jobs. Among many stupidities, very light petroleum known as a condensate can be exported if it happens to come out of a gas well. If the same material comes out of an oil well, it can’t be exported without special permission. Ultra-light crudes account for a high proportion of booming Eagle Ford Shale production in Texas. Such crudes are especially coveted by Asian refiners, which means domestic producers are leaving a large premium on the table.
“Who wins? Domestic refiners get artificially cheap oil to run their plants. An industry mythology claims consumers also benefit thanks to cheaper gasoline. Don’t buy it. Gasoline flows freely in and out of the country, so its price is set by the world market.”
One thing’s for sure, as the oil shale jobs are cut back, down in the Eagle Ford of south Texas and way up in North Dakota, the Obozo Economy is going to get a lot worse. Not that he or his greedy party care. They have theirs.
Via Instapundit.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 
The ban on export might make sense as a national security measure. In case of some kind of external embargo or any other economic upheaval at least internal sources of oil will be available.
That probably was the original idea, faced with mainly Arab sources angry over US support of Israel. There are many more sources now plus a strategic reserve.