With the 2014 elections over, it appears that GOP House Republicans may be ready to take up debate on reversing the four-decade ban on exports of US crude oil.

U.S. Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, today (Dec. 9) introduced H.R. 5814, aimed at removing all restrictions on the export of crude from the United States.

The bill would also establish a National Policy that “no official of the Federal Government shall impose or enforce any restriction on the export of crude oil.”’

The proposed bill seems to be timed with a hearing to be convened this week by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, chaired by Representative Ed Whitfield (R-KY), on whether the U.S. crude oil export ban continues be appropriate in the current economy.  The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, December 11, 2014.

In April, Representative Michael McCaul, also a Texas Republican, introduced the Crude Oil Export Act (HR 4349) to end the restrictions on crude exports. The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade on June 10, 2014 but no further action has taken place.

The export ban was included in the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, drafted in response to the 1973 oil crisis. The law prohibited the export of most crude oil, and created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules for cars and trucks, also known as CAFE standards.