Already, Pioneer is exporting about 15,000 barrels per day of distilled condensate, with three cargoes shipped to South Korea, Europe and Singapore and a fourth leaving soon for Japan. Sheffield said the company, which is the largest producer in West Texas' Permian Basin, is on track to export most of its 70,000 barrels-per-day yield of condensate "sometime next year."

Pioneer is contracted to sell most of its treated condensate to Enterprise Products Partners, which markets it globally.

Earlier this year, Pioneer and Enterprise became the first two companies to win Commerce Department rulings affirming that once it is lightly distilled, condensate qualifies as a petroleum product that can be freely exported. Raw crude is generally barred from such foreign sales, though exports of gasoline and other petroleum products are not restricted.

Other Texas oil producers, marketers and midstream companies are eager to follow Pioneer. At least a half dozen companies have asked the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security for classification rulings, which are not strictly required but provide legal assurance for buyers that products they export comply with U.S. trade laws.

The requests stalled after the applicants answered bureau questions about their equipment and the way unfinished condensate would be altered. The delay causes some export advocates to ears that political concerns may be prompting the Obama administration to pull back on more approvals, at least temporarily.

Read more