ENERGY

Senators Introduce Repeal of Alaska Oil Export Ban: On the first day of the 104th U.S. Congress, Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), the incoming chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a bill to repeal the two-decade ban on the export of Alaskan North Slope crude oil. The proposed legislation is co-sponsored by Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and Sen. John. B. Breaux (D-La.). The ban--a vestige of the 1970s oil shocks and congressional approval of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline--is blamed by many Alaskans for discouraging new production in that state, and by California’s independent oil producers for artificially depressing crude oil prices in California by forcing Alaskan crude into the California market. Clinton Administration officials have said they favor lifting the ban but have delayed taking action since last summer.