WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Removing export restrictions may increase domestic production, which ran at more than eight million barrels per day in April 2014, by as much as 3.3 million barrels per day on average from 2015 through 2035, the report said.
“Additional crude oil production may pose risks to the quality and quantity of surface groundwater sources; increase greenhouse gas and other emissions; and increase the risk of spills from crude oil transportation.”
The GAO explained the rapid increase in production was possible because of technological advances in the extraction of crude oil from shale formations.
The Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for the US Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.
