"Big Questions for N.J. on Crude Oil Exports"

"After the oil industry won a victory by persuading Congress to end a 40-year-old ban on the export of crude, it is far from clear what the impact will be on oil-filled tanker trains traveling through New Jersey.

An industry lobbyist in Trenton and environmental advocates in the region predicted more oil would come through, especially if a proposed pipeline from Albany, N.Y., to Linden is completed. But an economist at a think tank in the Washington area said oil producers in North Dakota who were sending their product by train to refineries in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania area might now find global customers willing to pay more.

Also unknown is whether lifting the ban will make gas prices rise or fall, whether refineries in the Northeast will lose business, and whether pressure will grow to allow oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean."

Herb Jackson reports for the Bergen Record January 2, 2016.