In testimony submitted ahead of a Senate energy committee hearing on U.S. crude export policy, the Pentagon's former undersecretary of defense for policy, Michele Flournoy, argues "policymakers in the United States should embrace these various benefits to our allies and ourselves and liberalize our crude export rules.

"Market conditions merit such a step and security dividends will not be fully realized without it," said Flournoy, co-founder of the Center for a New American Security.

A host of economic and geopolitical factors, from plummeting oil prices, near-capacity storage facilities and sanctions against Iran and Russia, are forcing both sides of the debate to address strategic questions.

"Members of Congress are starting to focus on this issue in a big way," said George Baker, executive director of Producers for American Crude Exports - a group representing independent companies demanding an end to the export ban.