Groups FOIA Federal Rules for Allowing Petroleum Export Ban Exceptions
![](https://www.sej.org/sites/default/files/condensate.jpg)
For decades, U.S. politicians have made energy independence a patriotic platitude — with one result being a ban on exporting crude oil produced in the U.S. Now some oil companies are getting exceptions to the export ban for a product called "condensate," and the Commerce Department won't say why. So a coalition of environmental groups have filed a Freedom of Information Act request to find out.