The U.S. Senate energy committee on July 30 passed a bill that would lift a decades-old ban on the export of crude oil.

The 22-member panel passed the bill to allow the United States to export oil and boost state revenue-sharing for offshore oil and gas drilling by a vote of 12-10.

Senate Energy Committee chair Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator from Alaska, has been a long-time advocate for lifting the ban, which she said was outdated due to the rise of the United States as an energy power.

The vote comes a day after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner for the first time voiced his support for lifting the domestic oil export ban, which experts said signaled momentum for an overhaul of 40-year-old energy policy.