White House to release petroleum reserves

MSNBC ^ | August 31, 2005

[BulletBobCo]

WASHINGTON - Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said Wednesday the Bush administration will release oil from petroleum reserves to help refiners affected by Hurricane Katrina. An announcement was expected later in the day.

The move is designed to give refineries in the Gulf Coast area a temporary supply of crude oil to take the place of interrupted shipments from tankers or offshore oil platforms affected by the storm.

[BallyBill]

Chuck Schumer was bragging he has been calling for the release of the reserves for a year now. Can't he even realize how stupid that sounds. He should be saying how glad he is the president didn't listen to him last year.

[Happy2BMe]

Did it ever occur to you that the enviro excuse is a cashfall for oil companies?

[Straight Vermonter]

Of all the stupid comments I have read on these boards in the last couple of days that one takes the blue ribbon.

[DB]

The refineries are still up. The problem now is lack of crud to refine.

And that is exactly what the strategic petroleum reserve is for.

[Dane]

Doesn't anybody wonder why this country has less than five major oil refineries?

HINT: Limit product availability, raise prices, perpetually gouge the consumer and cash in at the bank

Interesting you don't mention the true reason for lack of refineries.

Can't criticize your allies the envtorwhackos.

[thoughtomator]

No, the strategic reserve is there for surviving a war.

[mewzilla]

I think some of the refineries down there are still idle, aren't they? Although they probably don't all refine gasoline. Which makes me wonder what they're going to do with the crude from the SPR.

[tomahawk]

It's a "Strategic" Petroleum Reserve designed for wartime, not hurricanes.

Now, it's a Tactical Petroluem Buffer apparently.

Should oil supplies be disrupted in the Middle East or Far East this winter, we will have less than 30 days of oil in the reserve.

I'm against this. It's short-term thinking, not long-term.

[tomahawk]

It's not for war anymore.

[Fawn]

$3.00 a Gallon is the price you pay for ANWR! Start drilling or Stop Whinning!
I've been telling that to all the people that whine to me about gas prices. Start drilling for oil in our own country, build refinieries. Until officials are elected who will do so, shut up and pay the piper!

Me too...I yell it at them.....and I blame the LIBERALS right up front....telling people it's the DEMS fault we pay so much--they won't 'allow' the US to drill on a friggin frozen tundra or build a stupid refinery for over 20 years! That shuts them up.

[deltabean]

Maybe I'm being too simplistic, but why don't they build refineries in the Free Trade area of Mexico. They have the crude, no EPA, no NIMBY and a huge market in California.

It seems like an easy solution. Am I wrong?

[Puppage]

No, the strategic reserve is there for surviving a war

Thank you!!!

High gas prices are most certainly a pain in the ass, but an emergency? I think not.

[carlr]

What difference will it make,the speculative price is high,pump prices are going up and will not come down by opening the SPR.The price at the pump here has risen .20 in 2 days.Gas was already in the tanks in the ground.
Down the road replenishing the reserve will be cited as the "reason" for high prices as it is taking crude out of the market.

[mewzilla]

High gas prices are most certainly a pain in the ass, but an emergency? I think not.

And it's not like in the 70's when we were queuing for gas, though we got through that, too.

[jveritas]

Excellent decision.

[mlc9852]

I agree. He was smart to not release it sooner. But this looks like a real emergency.

[Desdemona]

$3.00 a Gallon is the price you pay for ANWR! Start drilling or Stop Whinning!

Without the refineries to get actual product to market, it only does so much. Yes, we need to drill our own, but we need more refineries, too.

[Dane]

Did it ever occur to you that the enviro excuse is a cashfall for oil companies?

Enviro excuse? Oh you mean such groups as the sierra club and elf, don't exist, and are a major base of the radical left/democrat party.

Thank you for showing your true political colors there Happy.

BTW, say hi to everybody at the DNC basement where the oil companies(who provide hundreds of thousands of jobs) are evil.

[Desdemona]

Which makes me wonder what they're going to do with the crude from the SPR.

Just a guess - heating oil? It is the end of August and winter is on its way. This is about the time they start stocking up every year.

[Proud_texan]

My understanding of how the SPR works is that while we pay for the initial reserve when it's released the oil is "borrowed" and then replaced by the companies that borrow it.

I could very well be wrong, that's simply a memory from the drawdown during the Gulf war and possibly faulty.