Fuel Fix reports that “refiners opposed to oil exports said Thursday they have more than enough plants and equipment to process the light, sweet crude flowing out of U.S. wells, countering the chief argument of oil producers hoping for a new era of overseas sales.”  

“A coalition of four refiners fighting to preserve the 39-year-old restrictions on selling raw crude overseas released a report finding they can absorb as much as 4.3 million additional barrels per day of domestic ‘light, tight oil’ — far beyond the amount government energy analysts expect U.S. wells to produce through 2020.  

“’The U.S. refining system is the largest, most complex and flexible in the world,’ said Jeff Peck, a lobbyist for the group, Consumers and Refiners United For Domestic Energy. ‘U.S. refiners should be able to produce all the light, tight oil that will be produced in the U.S. for the remainder of this decade and likely for years beyond’ by displacing existing oil imports, increasing utilization and investing in modest capacity expansions.”