Posted on 05/16/2008 10:19:25 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
US will stop sending oil into strategic reserves
By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago
The Energy Department says it has canceled oil shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve beginning in July when the current purchase contract expires.
The move came days after Congress passed legislation requiring the president to suspend the shipment into the reserve in hopes of lowering gasoline prices.
The Energy Department said it will not sign contracts for new shipments of 76,000 barrels of oil a day for the six-month period beginning July 1. President Bush had opposed halting the shipments, arguing that such a relatively small amount of oil would not influence prices. Current shipments will continue. The reserve is 97 percent full, holding 701 million barrels of crude.
The dems come thru again.. uh, well, sort of,, f’n idjits
This will drive the price up. There aren’t very many economists over in Congress, are there?
As an ex SPR employee, I can’t tell you how absolutely absurb this is.
The purpose of the SPR is to keep our military going in case of a disruption of oil supplies. The effect of cutting off the oil supply to the SPR to the overall oil supply is nil.
CS
It kind of makes sense since we are paying the highest price known to this country for the reserve. When (if) the price goes down, then continue filling it up. But this will not do anything but prolong the matter for us all to endure and the dems feel good about it. Traitors all of them.
Idiots.
Complete and total blithering idiots.
Morons.
Scumbags.
I am so completely disgusted with our government, all sides of it, that they offer THIS as some kind of action. If they had done nothing, I don’t think I would view them with such utter and complete disdain.
I am angry that I am paying $3.85 a gallon for gas, but I understand things work that way sometimes. I don’t expect the government to fix it by doing price fixes or going after the oil companies. That doesn’t fix anything, and makes everything worse, as Nixon and the rest of us found out back in the Seventies.
But I DO expect them to work towards fixing it over the long term by passing any legislation that increases supply (or at least works towards that goal) thereby lowering demand and princing as well.
What they did is a form of masturbation, and it makes me angry.
That will do nothing at all.
Less than nothing, in fact.
I trade futures on a pretty regular basis and I can say this:
Want to see the futures contracts drop?
Want to see a 20 dollar+ per barrel price drop instantly?
Announce that we will drill ANWAR.
Another 15?
Announce that we are drilling the coasts - before Cuba and China do - Yes, they can.
More? Announce that we are encouraging Nuclear power on a large basis
Still more? - Build a REFINERY right here. - They are going to be built in China right now, you nitwits!
Me, neither. ;->
"This calls for a stupid and useless gesture on our part"
You must not know what you are talking about. Our political heroes promised us fast relief.
Plop, plop...fizz, fizz.
Bush won't do it. McLame won't do it.
Not an ounce of gumption between them.
Why will it drive prices up?
It is my understanding the Chinese will start construction on 15 refineries this year alone. Not one of them will conform to U.S. Clean Air Act requirements, but of course they don't care. The Algore maniacs never go after China because they have the correct form of government. Meanwhile, we haven't built a single refinery in 30 years.
Yeah, that extra 0.5% will really make a difference...
This is more show than anything else.
But there is some common sense to it.
The Reserve is 97% full. We can wait and fill the other three percent when prices come down. No sense buying oil at $ 127/bbl when we can buy it in a few months for much less.
The military—ie the USAF— is developing synfuels for its airfleet. As this becomes more standard, the existing reserve can go farther. We may never even need the extra 3%.
And it frees up 70,000 bbls/day for the general market. No one thing will bring prices down, but many things, done together, will.
I just cancelled a road trip to Chicago—that saves 1500 miles of driving. Every little bit helps.
But we’re at war. Keep fillin’.
More proof that the government is broken. Everyone knows it. It’s the only reason an unqualified empty suit like Obama is a serious candidate for president. He’s promising change. People are so sick of our incompetent leadership that they’d elect a dead dog just because it promises to be different.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil in the world. Established in the aftermath of the 1973-74 oil embargo, the SPR provides the President with a powerful response option should a disruption in commercial oil supplies threaten the U.S. economy. It also allows the United States to meet part of its International Energy Agency obligation to maintain emergency oil stocks, and it provides a national defense fuel reserve.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Secretary of Energy to fill the SPR to its authorized one billion barrel capacity. This required the Department of Energy to complete proceedings to select sites necessary to expand the SPR to one billion barrels.
—
I’ve traipsed a few of the sites in the 80s.. physical security work.
I remember visiting a spot near the Mississippi, St. Johns was the port name, I think. They didn’t have Big Hill online, Bryan Mound was in the works but Bayou Choctaw and West Hackberry were operational. Things have changed a bit in 20 years.
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