Economic and energy effects of alternative oil import policies

Technical Report · Tue Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6027420· OSTI ID:6027420

Staats, E. B.

This report examines alternative ways to reduce oil imports. GAO compared the economic and energy effects of continued price controls, price deregulation (including the administration's decontrol plan), import fees, domestic crude oil taxes and quotas. Overall, phased price deregulation appears to result in the best combination of costs and benefits for the Nation. It is the most effective at reducing oil imports by stimulating domestic production while avoiding the higher economic costs imposed by quotas. The administration's decontrol plan should lower imports, but will cause additional inflation over the next 3 years. GAO estimates the impacts of decontrol, on both oil imports and on inflation, will be higher than the administration suggests. The administration's proposed tax on windfall profits arising from deregulation of previously discovered oil will collect a small amount of revenue. The part of the tax on profits arising from future OPEC price increases, however, may collect considerably more revenue from the industry because the administration plans to establish a low base price from which profits are calculated.

• Research Organization: General Accounting Office (GAO), Washington, DC (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6027420
• Report Number(s): EMD-79-78
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Report to the Congress of the United States by the Comptroller General
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ENERGY POLICY
ECONOMIC IMPACT
PETROLEUM
IMPORTS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
OPEC
PRICES
PROFITS
REGULATIONS
TAXES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OIL-EXPORTING COUNTRIES
021000* - Petroleum- Legislation & Regulations
294002 - Energy Planning & Policy- Petroleum
020700 - Petroleum- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects