Ad campaigns target Montana senators on oil exports

WASHINGTON — The debate over whether the U.S. should export oil is playing out in Montana, with a pair of television campaigns looking to build support with lawmakers and their constituents as Congress prepares for a possible vote on the issue this year.

Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, whose members include oil and gas associations and producers, launched ads on television and online in four states, including Montana, looking to boost momentum for lifting the country’s four decades-old crude export ban.

And this week Allied Progress, a new group opposed to exporting oil, is launching its own campaign across five states to encourage residents to call their lawmakers and ask them to keep the ban in place.

The group, which calls itself a nationwide, nonprofit grass-roots organization, has targeted Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican, among other lawmakers who could play a key role in whether the Senate votes to do away with the ban.

“Based on the comments these senators have made, Tester and Daines, they should be with us on this,” said Karl Frisch, executive director with Allied Progress. “They should oppose the ban, and I’m certain they will consider the facts when they make their positions known, and the constituents contacting their senator will play no small role in that.”

Montana is a beneficiary of the Bakken Shale energy boom. It’s also part of the Keystone XL debate, where a significant portion of the pipeline would cut through the state to Steele City, Neb., and connect to an existing pipeline to Gulf Coast refineries.

The ads from both sides come as the House is expected to consider whether to lift the ban this fall, which was put in place following the Arab oil embargo in 1973. Shortly before Congress adjourned for its August recess, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he favored allowing oil exports. The Republican-led Senate is likely to act next year.

A spokesman for Tester said this week the senator is reviewing legislation that would lift the ban.

“There’s no question that the Bakken oil boom has brought good-paying jobs to eastern Montana. But the oil boom has also brought tremendous infrastructure needs, increased crime, and environmental challenges to the region,” Tester said at a July 27 Senate Banking Committee hearing. “That’s why we need to be thoughtful in how we approach this issue.”

Daines, who has co-sponsored a bill from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to reverse the ban, noted an Energy Department report favorable to exports while he cited the benefits it would have for the country, such as more high-paying jobs.

“The evidence is clear: Lifting the oil export ban is in the economic and security interests of the United States,” he said.

With U.S. oil production surging and prices near a multiyear low, energy producers are eager to look for new markets. But Allied Progress and others who favor the ban warn that easing it would lead to higher energy prices for consumers, eliminate U.S. jobs and make the country more dependent on foreign oil.

“Interest groups will always target the senators who they think will be the most pivotal, and able to influence their Senate colleagues. It has to have a constituency that can be swayed,” said Jeremy Johnson, associate professor of political science at Carroll College in Helena. “On energy extraction, certainly Montana has an interest in those issues.”

A report issued by the Energy Department Tuesday determined that lifting the ban wouldn’t raise gasoline prices, and has the potential to lower them.

“It’s time for policymakers to harness the economic advantages of free trade by lifting the outdated ban on crude exports,” said Kyle Isakower, vice president of regulatory and economic policy with the American Petroleum Institute. “Lawmakers need to make this issue an immediate priority when they return from the summer break.”

Contact Christopher Doering at cdoering@gannett.com or reach him at Twitter: @cdoering