U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today highlighted the importance of allowing American crude oil to compete in the global marketplace and said that lifting the ban on oil exports was a “crucial issue” at the intersection of national security and energy policy.

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“At a time when we have risen to be the world’s top producer of oil, our outdated, 1970s-era ban on oil exports is causing us to miss out on a range of significant energy, economic, and security-related benefits,” Murkowski said. “The United States is the only advanced nation that prohibits crude oil exports. It is distinctly weird for us to prohibit our own exports.”

Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pressed the issue of lifting the ban in a speech Thursday on the Senate floor.

“We’re in a position where our friends and trading partners are openly asking for assistance. That’s because the world has changed dramatically – with new alliances, new threats, new hopes, and new fears,” Murkowski said. “It is my own hope that, while the world may have changed, our nation’s role as a global leader has not eroded. And this is a chance for us to prove it.”

Murkowski said ban is holding America back and therefore it’s time to modernize the nation’s energy policies by removing the statutory limitations against exporting oil produced in the Lower 48. Murkowski has filed an amendment to the defense bill currently on the Senate floor, as well as standalone legislation.

“The questions we needed to ask about oil exports have been asked – and answered favorably. Independent exports have studied what would happen if we lift the ban – and they are almost universally encouraging us to lift it,” Murkowski said. “This is not a partisan issue; we have introduced bipartisan legislation to end the ban. This is something that is simply in the best interest of the United States, in terms of both our economic strength and our national security. The time to legislate on oil exports is now.”

Murkowski has long recognized the importance of ending the current ban on crude oil exports. In May, Murkowski, along with Sen. Heitkamp, D-N.D., and 11 of their Senate colleagues, introduced bipartisan legislation to remove restrictions on oil exports. Murkowski also released a report early last year calling for the liberalization of America’s energy trade policies.

“The whole idea that oil exports would still be prohibited defies logic. Today, we can export gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and any refined product without a license – but we cannot export crude oil? That doesn’t make sense and it is time to resolve that inconsistency,” Murkowski said. “Our policy clearly needs to be modernized. Many parts of the world are on fire. America, and American energy, needs to be ready to render vital assistance to our friends who are counting on us to demonstrate global leadership.”