Investing.com - The United States appears on the brink of ending a four-decade-old ban on most exports of crude oil, an abrupt end to a years-long fight triggered by the domestic shale boom.
Late on Tuesday evening congressional negotiators wrapped up a sprawling deal to keep the U.S. government operating through next September that included repealing the ban and granting temporary tax breaks to boost wind and solar development.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers will meet on Wednesday to discuss the $1.15 trillion spending bill and lawmakers hope to vote on it soon, possibly Friday.
While many Democrats including President Barack Obama have opposed lifting the ban, a drop in oil prices, which briefly touched nearly 11 year lows this week below $40 a barrel, helped ease their worries that doing so would boost gasoline prices for consumers.