Few expected the US government to end its four-decade-old ban on crude oil exports, which barred shipments to countries other than Canada, anytime soon. Despite impassioned lobbying by exploration and production (E&P) companies for years, few analysts expected any movement on that front before the next occupant of the White House arrived in 2017.
In a note to clients on 23 June, 2015, investment bank Goldman Sachs wrote: “Our Washington research suggests the highest probability of the export ban being lifted is in 2017 or beyond.”
