Newsmax
19 Mar 2012
Republicans are upset with talk that the White House plans to open up the country’s emergency oil reserves to curb the raging increase in gasoline prices. GOP politicians see the potential move to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, (SPR) as a political maneuver to aid President Barack Obama’s re-election effort, The Hill reports.
Gasoline prices average $3.84 nationally, almost double their level when Obama took office in January 2009. The SPR holds 696 million barrels of crude on the Gulf Coast.
“The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for emergencies — not political disasters,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said in a statement Thursday. “Instead of manipulating the SPR, the White House should approve the Keystone XL pipeline, increase domestic energy exploration, cut red tape, and stop the EPA from shutting down American refineries.” Barrasso pointed to a Feb. 28 memo from the Senate Republican Policy Committee that specified the GOP’s objections to an SPR release…
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Related: via Instapundit:
THE HILL POLL: Voter Gloom On Obama’s Jobs, Gas, Debt Policies. “Strong majorities see major White House policies making life more difficult for themselves, according to this week’s Hill Poll.” Ya think?
Related: An ObamaCare I Told You So.
Update: Motorists Feel The Pinch as Gas Prices Keep Rising from WSJ:
U.S. gasoline prices jumped 6% in February, and market experts predict they will climb higher because critical refining operations in the Northeast are shutting down.
From New York to Philadelphia, refineries that turn oil into gasoline have been idled or shut permanently because their owners are losing money on them. Sunoco Inc. is expected to close the region’s largest refinery in July, taking another 335,000 barrels per day in production capacity off the market.
The East Coast refineries are getting squeezed by the soaring cost of crude oil, the major component in gasoline. The cost of oil has jumped in the past year due to global economic growth and rising tensions between Western nations and Iran, a major producer. Refineries haven’t been able to increase their own prices enough to compensate….
