1985 - Crude Oil and Petroleum Product Imports (By Country) Includes Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela, ** Includes Bahamas, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Senator HATFIELD. Thank you, MR. DONOHUE. Mr. Van Arsdall. STATEMENT OF R. THOMAS VAN ARSDALL, VICE PRESIDENT, AGRICULTURAL INPUTS AND SERVICES, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES Mr. VAN ARSDALL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our testimony today briefly portrays a twofold message. First, while an oil import fee, when considered in an isolated context, may be ill-advised energy policy. The National Council believes that the specific objectives in the mechanics of any proposal must be made available and judged within the real world parameters presently prevailing; most notably, critical deficit reduction needs, and the national security implications of collapsing world oil prices and their impact upon the domestic oil industry, before any responsible policy determinations can be achieved. We are early in that debate. Our membership has conveyed to us their view of the overriding importance to American agriculture of accomplishing significant reductions in the national deficit. As we look at any options in any part of the debate, energy or otherwise, that is our overriding consideration. Second, since rising petroleum product imports potentially carry grave implications for the security of American agricultures, fuel supplies, and future emergencies, and indeed, our national and economic security. The National Council would urge that a differential on imported petroleum products be incorporated as part of any oil import fee that might be considered. Our position on the product differential is based not simply on the survival of the domestic refining industry, nor for our trade considerations. Rather, it is based more upon a concern that if product imports continue to increase, displacing domestic refining capacity, a threshold will be crossed at some point which would place our Nation under the threat of a new kind of vulnerability, jeopardizing the effectiveness of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the next emergency, a crude oil reserve that the members of this committee and the National Council have worked long and hard to create. In this regard, the precipitous fall in world oil prices carries with it a number of implications, as well as new questions. First, it appears that product import, national security concerns, are being pushed into the background by more immediate concerns about the impact of falling oil prices on the domestic petroleum industry. Second, it is unclear how lower low oil prices impact upon foreign governments' willingness or ability to subsidize their export refineries, at least in the short term. Third, a tight market is likely to return more quickly as demand accelerates and exploration and production diminish on domestic and international scenes. The National Council would hope that the product imports issue does not become lost in the snowstorm, so to speak, but more immediate concerns created by falling oil prices, and that this issue will continue to receive the closest possible scrutiny. In closing, member cooperatives of the national council are farmer owned. We have endured through two oil emergencies, the farm fuel shortages, and sharply higher prices. We are not anxious to see mistakes of the past repeated needlessly in the foreign oil cutoff. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [The prepared statement of Mr. Van Arsdall follows:] Before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources March 20, 1986 Statement of R. Thomas Van Arsdall, Vice President, Agricultural Inputs and Services, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives I Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, my name is R. Thomas Van Arsdall and I am Vice President of Agricultural Inputs and Services with the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. commend the Committee for holding this timely hearing on a very important issue, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to share the National Council's views. Our testimony today portrays a twofold message: First, while an oil import fee when considered in an isolated context may be ill-advised energy policy, the National Council believes that the specific objectives and mechanics of any proposal must be made available and judged within the real-world parameters presently prevailing--(1) critical deficit reduction needs, and (2) the national security implications of collapsing world oil prices and their impact upon the domestic oil industry before any responsible policy determinations can be achieved. • Second, since rising petroleum product imports carry grave implications for the security of U.S. agriculture's fuel supplies in future emergencies, and indeed our national and economic security, the National Council would urge that a differential on imported petroleum products be incorporated as part of any oil import fee that might be considered. The product imports appropriately addressed in the March 14 hearing on the World Outlook and Situation for Petroleum. However, any discussion of oil import fees from an energy policy perspective must include careful consideration of how product imports are to be treated. issue might well have been more |