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Roughly one month ago, the White House answered one question we’ve been hammering them about for more than a year. Joe Biden drained nearly 200 million barrels of oil out of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a failed effort to keep gas prices low ahead of the midterm elections. Was he ever planning on replacing that oil? And how much would it cost if he does?At the time, Biden was saying that he would place the first order for three million barrels of oil for the SPR in February. That doesn’t happen overnight, so they opened up the process to...

VIDEOThis video will make you want to take the cell phone that "Bloomberg Surveillance" host Tom Keene was playing with during a crucial part of an interview and smack him over the head with it. The interview was with Heather Boushey, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers that works out of the White House, and when she begins talking about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Keene was paying attention to the cell phone. Whether he was doing that on purpose or because he is too lazy to PAY ATTENTION is an open question but what is important is that...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is preparing to order the release of up to 1 million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve, according to two people familiar with the decision, in a bid to control energy prices that have spiked as the U.S. and allies have imposed steep sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine The announcement could come as soon as Thursday, when the White House says Biden is planning to deliver remarks on his administration's plans to combat rising gas prices. The duration of the release hasn't been finalized but could...

Joe Biden announced that he will tap into the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve in order to lower the price of gasoline — this after deliberately cutting production by shutting down pipelines and refusing to grant drilling permits in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.It’s unknown how Biden can promote his climate agenda while increasing fossil fuel production. Environmental activists are puzzled — and angry.Washington Post:“There is a huge contradiction right now in their actions,” said Jean Su, who directs the Energy Justice Program at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has sued to stop the oil rights auction. “It’s really...

As gas prices climb back toward $4 a gallon, the Obama administration -- facing a tough re-election campaign and rising Middle East tensions -- is once again considering tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. For years, administrations have bought and stored oil for emergencies, in fear of a cutoff of imported oil, as happened during the Arab embargo of 1973-74. But since 2009, the U.S. government has declared most federal lands off-limits to new oil and gas exploration -- despite vast recent finds of energy and radically new means to tap it. President Obama also canceled the most vital sections of...

What cost have we paid for the president’s permitorium on new lease auctions (only just ended this summer) and drilling permit approvals which are still well below the levels we need? Unlike many rhetorical questions, this is one which we will eventually learn the answer to. A piece of the puzzle fell into place this week when Chevron, finally getting back to work after long delays, announced the discovery of another, potentially significant US energy deposit in the gulf. SAN RAMON, Calif., Sept. 6, 2011 – Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) today announced a new oil discovery at the Moccasin prospect...

Siphoning oil from strategic reserve fails to cut pricesThe results are in from President Obama’s controversial decision last month to tap into the nation’s oil reserves to drive down gas prices: none. Like his futile efforts to revive the moribund U.S. economy by spending $1 trillion in borrowed money, the president’s release of 30 million barrels from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve produced nothing more than a brief pause in the steady rise in prices at the pump. Nearly three years into an energy policy designed to hector Americans into accepting pointless “green” alternatives, the president seems to have finally...

With gasoline prices at the pump topping $4 a gallon in some parts of the country, President Obama on Friday said he will tap into a government’s emergency oil stockpile if he has to, but said the U.S. is already producing more oil now and the current crisis is one of demand, not supply. Mr. Obama told a news conference that domestic production has climbed under his watch, reaching its highest level since 2003 last year even as the one-year anniversary of the Gulf Coast oil spill approaches. “Any notion that my administration has shut down oil production might make...

Whenever gasoline prices spike, it's a pretty good bet that politicians are going to propose tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff William Daley said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the Obama administration is "considering" dipping into the reserve. We hope this idea doesn't get past the talking stages. There is no compelling reason for the U.S. to draw upon its emergency oil supplies. The reserve was created in response to the 1973 Arab oil embargo, as a hedge against serious disruptions in the oil market. There may come a time when turmoil in...

Once again Senator Obama has proven that he is a candidate who will do anything and say anything to gain political power. Today, Senator Obama repeated the calls of failed congressional leaders Pelosi and Reid by calling upon the President to open our Strategic Oil Reserves. The proposal by Obama would open up 10% of the nations oil reserve in order to provide short term price relief that would last through the November Election. Yet, in 2005, Barack Obama while speaking in both Godfrey, Illinois and at the State Fair in Illinois...

Strategic Petroleum Reserve I have wondered if any single Representative in Congress could possibly be as dumb as all of them. Every once in a while I get my answer and the answer is yes. I have listened to the Democrats inform us that increasing the supply of oil by drilling will not alleviate the problem of high energy cost. I hear them expound relentlessly why building more refineries will not be helpful. Nuclear energy is out of the question they preach. Wind power might be acceptable as long as Senator Kennedy can’t see them. Some insist energy prices are...

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 07/09/2008 Pelosi: President Must Tap Oil Reserve Immediately Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement reiterating her letter yesterday to President Bush urging him to immediately tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve: “The Bush Administration’s own Energy Information Administration announced yesterday that global supply uncertainties and increased worldwide demand are placing great pressure on our oil markets and driving record gas prices. It is time for the President to take the next step to help the American economy and American families and businesses. It took Congressional action to...

Skyrocketing energy prices are hammering Americans. Five years ago this week, gasoline cost an average of $1.43 a gallon at the pump; this week, it's $3.94. And home electricity averaged 5.43 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2003; it was up to 10.31 cents in December. The underlying cause, of course, is that oil, coal and natural-gas prices have all gone berserk - with no relief in sight. What to do? Individually, of course, most of us will start conserving - people are already driving less, buying more fuel-efficient cars, etc. We'll keep on finding ways to save as prices stay high....

Bowing to pressure from Congress, the Energy Department said Friday that it would temporarily suspend a program to fill the nation’s strategic oil stocks. But the move, which some analysts and politicians had hoped would help break the rally in oil prices, failed to sway the market. Crude oil prices hit another record Friday. The decision on the oil stocks came the same day that Saudi Arabia announced a modest increase of 300,000 barrels a day in its oil production as President Bush visited the oil-rich kingdom. But oil traders dismissed the news from Washington and Riyadh and focused instead...

Beijing - China plans to begin storing oil at its first strategic oil base by the end of this year and put into operation three more bases by 2008, a senior official said on Monday. The first oil reserve base is under construction at Zhenhai, in the eastern province of Zhejiang, and will begin filling tanks by the end of 2006, Ma Kai, minister for the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters. Three more bases will be brought into operation during 2007 and 2008, Ma said on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress (NPC), China's nominal parliament....

U.S. President George Bush said Monday he will release supplies from the nation's strategic oil reserve to deal with hurricane-related fuel shortfalls. Speaking at the Department of Energy, Bush said Hurricane Rita's strike Saturday missed much of refining capacity along the Texas coast, but that the effect of it following last month's Hurricane Katrina was bound to affect supply. There was about 5.4 million barrels per day that were shut in as a result of Rita and Katrina, Bush said. A million of it is back up already, and we expect another 1.8 million barrels a day to get back...

New Report Finds Average Upstate New York Family With 2 Cars Could Pay $255 More For Gas This Year; Schumer To Detail New Steps To Lower Price of Oil Even though President Has Previously Refused, OPEC’s Recent Outrageous Cuts in Supply and Skyrocketing Gas Prices Demand Immediate Action Schumer Unveils County-By-County Analysis: Avg. Family with 2 Cars in Cap Region Could Pay $308 more on gas this year; Central NY $265; Rochester/Finger Lakes $297; Hudson Valley $188; North Country $317; Southern Tier $301; Western NY $241 U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today vowed to fight to lower prices for New...

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- ConocoPhillips will receive 1.5 million barrels of sweet crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to offset supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Ivan, the Energy Department said in a statement on its Web site. This brings the total amount of oil taken from the reserve in the past week and a half to 3.2 million barrels, earmarked to help refineries in hurricane-hit areas. The Energy Department said it will send three shipments of 500,000 barrels to ConocoPhillips' (COP: news, chart, profile) Freeport tanks over the next three weeks for further distribution to a Louisiana facility. A ConocoPhillips...

“Without being specific, Kerry, a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested the US could retaliate economically in other trade areas. He also said he does not want a release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. A release 'is not relevant. It would take months for the oil to get to the market,' he said.” (Cathy Landry, "US Energy Chief Warns Of Gasoline Crisis," Platt's Oilgram News, 2/17/00)