White House says won't sell emergency oil supplies
The Bush administration will resist calls to sell crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help boost available oil supplies in the market and lower prices, the White House said on Monday.
By Agencies |
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration will resist calls to sell crude oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help boost available oil supplies in the market and lower prices, the White House said on Monday.
"The president, as the person responsible for the safety and security of the American people, would resist any calls to start selling off Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil and we don't think it would have that big of an impact on prices," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters.
"It's like the fire extinguisher in case of an emergency," said Perino about the oil reserve.
She said attempts in the past to influence energy prices by using the oil stockpile have not been successful.
Perino also rejected new calls from Congress for the administration to stop adding oil to reserve and divert those deliveries to the market, a move many lawmakers say would ease oil prices that hit a record $126.40 per barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The president believes that we need an even larger Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to protect ourselves against oil shocks," she said.
As a result, the Energy Department will go forward with its plan to accept bids this week from oil companies to supply millions of barrels of additional crude to the stockpile, which now holds about 703 million barrels of emergency oil at four underground storage sites in Texas and Louisiana. The stockpile can hold up to 727 million barrels of crude.
However, the Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on putting the brakes on future oil deliveries to the reserve.
A Democratic proposal, which has the support of many Republicans, would suspend oil shipments to the stockpile until the price of crude fell to below $75 a barrel, which is not forecast to happen anytime before the end of 2009.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat and sponsor of the proposal, said the Bush administration's insistence on continuing to fill the oil reserve was "dumb on its face."
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat who chairs the Senate's energy committee, said suspending reserve shipments "will have a modest impact on the price of oil perhaps."
He likened it to the "chicken soup remedy," saying it could help and it couldn't hurt.
Bingaman added that stopping deliveries to the oil stockpile "is not going to put our national security in jeopardy" with 97 percent of the reserve already filled.
"The president, as the person responsible for the safety and security of the American people, would resist any calls to start selling off Strategic Petroleum Reserve oil and we don't think it would have that big of an impact on prices," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters.
"It's like the fire extinguisher in case of an emergency," said Perino about the oil reserve.
She said attempts in the past to influence energy prices by using the oil stockpile have not been successful.
Perino also rejected new calls from Congress for the administration to stop adding oil to reserve and divert those deliveries to the market, a move many lawmakers say would ease oil prices that hit a record $126.40 per barrel on Monday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The president believes that we need an even larger Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to protect ourselves against oil shocks," she said.
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As a result, the Energy Department will go forward with its plan to accept bids this week from oil companies to supply millions of barrels of additional crude to the stockpile, which now holds about 703 million barrels of emergency oil at four underground storage sites in Texas and Louisiana. The stockpile can hold up to 727 million barrels of crude.
However, the Senate is expected to vote Tuesday on putting the brakes on future oil deliveries to the reserve.
A Democratic proposal, which has the support of many Republicans, would suspend oil shipments to the stockpile until the price of crude fell to below $75 a barrel, which is not forecast to happen anytime before the end of 2009.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat and sponsor of the proposal, said the Bush administration's insistence on continuing to fill the oil reserve was "dumb on its face."
ADVERTISEMENT
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat who chairs the Senate's energy committee, said suspending reserve shipments "will have a modest impact on the price of oil perhaps."
He likened it to the "chicken soup remedy," saying it could help and it couldn't hurt.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bingaman added that stopping deliveries to the oil stockpile "is not going to put our national security in jeopardy" with 97 percent of the reserve already filled.
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