NAVIGATION MAIN MENU

COMPENDIUM LIBRARY/TWITTER MONITOR
VIDEO GALLERY
Economic News
Newsbrief Archives
Democrat Leadership Twitter and Realtime Feeds
Cabinet twitter and realtime feeds
North America weblog
International weblog
Democrats twitter directory
Latest Government Jobs and Public Tenders
Jobs Matrix
Global Travel Information
Pop Entertainment Forum
Start Portal


Please make a donation to support upkeep of the daily news journal, back archives, twitter feeds and the compendium library.










Republicans won't tap oil reserve to ease prices« Thread Sta

Daily newsbrief journal for May 2004, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


Republicans won't tap oil reserve to ease prices« Thread Sta

Postby admin » Thu Jan 26, 2012 7:54 am

Republicans won't tap oil reserve to ease prices« Thread Started on May 19, 2004, 2:08am »--------------------------------------------------------------------------------US won't tap oil reserve to ease prices-Bush adminReuters, 05.18.04, 1:12 PM ETBy Tom Doggett and Chris Baltimorehttp://www.forbes.com/newswire ... ON(Reuters) - The Bush administration Tuesday rebuffed pressure from Democrats to open the nation's emergency oil stockpile to help lower record gasoline prices, saying the reserve should be saved for supply disruptions.Democrats called on President Bush to release up to 60 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease energy prices that have rippled through the U.S. economy. Airlines, trucking companies and even major retailers such as Wal-Mart have grown increasingly concerned about fuel costs in recent weeks.U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who plans to meet with the Saudi oil minister later this week to discuss OPEC oil production, ruled out using the stockpile now."It's the emergency oil fund for this country in the event that a terrorist act, or any other activity in the world, might cease or suspend the production or delivery of oil into the marketplace," Abraham told reporters.The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, created in the mid-1970s, now holds about 660 million barrels. The administration aims to have 700 million barrels in it next year and will not "play games" with the reserve to ease gasoline prices now, he said."In the war against terror, we're going to be prepared. And the way to be prepared is to fill this reserve," Abraham said.Critics say the White House should temporarily stop adding oil to the stockpile, which they believe has taken badly-needed crude off the market and caused gasoline prices to rise.The U.S. average price for retail gasoline topped $2 a gallon for the first time ever last week, jumping 7.6 cents, the government reported Monday. The national average price of $2.017 is 52 cents higher than one year ago.Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry criticized Bush, a former Texas oilman, for failing to offer short-term measures to give American consumers relief.The rising prices mean that a typical Oregon family will pay an extra $1,000 this year for fuel, the Massachusetts senator said. The administration should stop filling the oil stockpile, work more effectively with oil-producing nations and enact simpler fuel strategies, Kerry said in remarks prepared for an Oregon campaign event.Senate Democrats are offering a non-binding Senate resolution demanding the administration release 1 million barrels a day for up to 60 days from the emergency reserve.Democrats also accused the Bush administration of being too close to the oil and gas industry. The energy industry has contributed more than $4 million to Republicans and nearly $1 million to President Bush in the 2004 election cycle, according to the Democratic National Committee.The United States is the world's biggest consumer of oil. It uses about 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products each day and more than half of that is imported.Crude oil futures traded at a record of $41.85 per barrel Monday, the highest in the 21-year history of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Tuesday morning, the contract for June delivery slipped below $41 a barrel.This weekend, oil producing and consuming nations will meet in Amsterdam to discuss global supplies and demand forecasts.Saudi Arabia has proposed that OPEC boost output by 1.5 million barrels per day when the cartel meets June 3. But with OPEC already exceeding its quota by 2 million bpd, raising its official output level may not result in more oil exports.The rise in crude oil prices is due to relatively tight supplies, robust demand growth in China and political tensions in Middle Eastern producing nations. U.S. gasoline prices have also been affected by environmental regulations requiring cleaner-burning fuel in metropolitan areas.Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 82092
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:00 am

Return to May 2004

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest