Oil Exporting Nations News

The global macroeconomic scene has become more volatile, with prominent factors such as oil prices and global currencies causing a commotion. This is resulting in large-scale distributional changes of wealth and income that will impact global trade patterns in the long run if these changes stick. Lower oil prices, for example, is not just a matter of lower fuel cost for the shipping industry, it also affects trade balance positives for oil importing nations and does the opposite for oil exporting nations. The Japanese economy grew by 1.0% in Q1 2015 compared to the previous quarter. This strong growth rate was brought around by higher business spending. The data puts economic growth in Japan at the strongest level in two years.

Congressman Michael McCaul introduced H.R. 4349, the Crude Oil Export Act, which lifts the 1970s era prohibition on the export of American crude oil and would remove the major remaining barrier that keeps the U.S. from being competitive with other oil exporting nations. McCaul said, "Most of America's crude oil production is taking place underneath the feet of Texans in the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin. According to McCaul, the Crude Oil Export Act will repeal the 1970s era ban on crude oil exports; maintain a ban on crude oil exports to any country that is subject to U.S. trade restrictions, sanctions or that the President or Congress has designated as subject to exclusion for national security reasons…