Lifting of US crude export ban will impact process safety management

摘要

Since the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s, the US government has restricted the export of crude oil to curb dependence on crude oil imports. According to various reports, by 2005, total US petroleum consumption from oil and product imports rose to over 60%, as compared to 35% in 1973. However, with the emergence of hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling, the vast quantities of now-recoverable oil in the US have signifi-cantly reduced that import dependence.