Free Republic

Did you ever wonder who might be the world’s biggest energy speculator? Now let me see, might it be T. Boone Pickens? Or perhaps it might be Prince Alaweed of Saudi Arabia. Maybe it is one of those big fund traders, you know, the ones that can allegedly control the price of oil on a whim. Well if that is what you think, you are wrong. ... (remainder of article at the link)

The US Department of Energy awarded contracts on Jan. 16 to purchase nearly 10.7 million bbl of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The awards were the first direct purchases of crude for the reserve since 1994, it said. DOE said it awarded the contracts to Shell Trading Co. and to Vitol Inc. to deliver oil to the SPR from February to April. It said that it used revenues from the emergency sale of crude from the reserve following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to pay for the purchase. DOE also announced contracts using the royalty-in-kind transfer program with the US...

As the U.S. seeks to stockpile oil, China has been doing the same, observers say, and is expected to quicken the pace -- a development that already may be helping to boost oil prices. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy said that amid low oil prices, it aims to fill the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to capacity this year. That news followed a rare public statement last week from China's top energy official, Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, in the People's Daily newspaper that China should take advantage of the falling global energy demand to increase...

The Department of Energy said it will deliver 200,000 barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to Placid Oil's refinery in Port Allen, Louisiana to combat supply disruptions as a result of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The oil will be delivered to the 56,000 b/d facility via the Shell pipeline, the department said in an emailed statement. About 5.4 million barrels of emergency exchange oil from the SPR has now been released or delivered due to hurricanes Gustav and Ike. The companies that have been receiving the oil are: Marathon (1.5 million barrels), Placid (1.2 million barrels), Citgo...

The U.S. Department of Energy said it is honoring a request from the Marathon Petroleum Co. for 250,000 barrels of oil from the nation's petroleum reserve. The company said it needs the oil to meet its refinery needs in the wake of Hurricane Gustav. A similar request issued last week by the Citgo Petroleum Corp. was withdrawn when Louisiana's Calcaseiu Channel was reopened following the passage of Gustav. Energy Department officials said the 250,000 barrels of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was delivered Monday to Marathon refineries along the Capline pipeline system.

Biden flatly told voters this afternoon that he opposes offshore drilling for oil and gas and lambasted companies for failing to tap many coastal sites they have already leased from the federal government. He also said the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which holds more than 700 million barrels of oil, should be emptied into the retail market to lower gas prices.

WHILE oil prices have declined somewhat of late, the volatility of the market and the political and religious unrest in major oil-producing countries has Americans worrying more than ever about energy security. But they have little to fear — contrary to common understanding, there are robust stockpiles of oil around the globe that could see us through any foreseeable calamities on the world market. True, trouble for the world’s energy supplies could come from many directions. Hurricanes and other natural disasters could suddenly disrupt oil production or transportation. Iran loudly and regularly proclaims that it can block oil exports from...

Republicans lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) energy plan Saturday advising her to “get out of the way” if she was not going to accept GOP solutions to the energy crisis. In her Saturday radio address Pelosi announced that Democrats would consider opening up parts of the outer continental shelf for drilling as a part of a broad new energy plan that will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The Democratic initiative will also seek to release oil from the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, require oil companies to pay billions of dollars Democrats believe they owe to invest...

Last Monday, Nancy Pelosi appeared on Larry King to promote her new book (see transcript).  When the discussion turned to energy policy, she dropped a few doozies.  Not only are her talking points wrong, but they even contradict each other.  The majority of Americans favor increasing U.S. oil production, and so Ms. Pelosi has to engage in mental gymnastics to cloud the issues.When King asked her how to bring down the price of oil, Pelosi’s answer was, “We have said to the president, the fastest way to do this is—in 10 days the price can come down if you will...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's plan to release oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve may lower crude and gasoline prices in the short term, but it could also leave the United States more vulnerable in a supply emergency. Obama called this week for easing fuel prices by releasing some 70 million barrels of light, sweet crude from the nation's stockpile and swapping it for less expensive heavy, sour oil. However, experts warn that, with less sweet oil in the reserve, it may be more difficult for the United States to counter a major disruption in petroleum supplies, like the...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has seen his lead in Massachusetts and across the nation slip precipitously over the past few months, especially with older, more experienced, voters. In June, Obama was ahead of Republican candidate John McCain by 23 percentage points, but this summer, Obama has been virtually bleeding support in the Bay State. He now leads McCain by only 9 percentage points here. Nationally, Obama's lead varies on an almost daily basis. In recent days, he has been tied with McCain, ahead by 3 points and ahead by 1 point. The fluctuating numbers come on the heels of...

How Obama and the Democrats Screwed Up on Drillingby Steve Kornacki August 6, 2008 The Democrats are supposed to own the issue of energy, if only because they've mastered the art of tarring Republicans as the party of Big Oil. It's a caricature that the G.O.P., with its mocking scorn for conservation, addiction to corporate tax cuts and unkickable habit of nominating oil men for national office, has done nothing to refute. Of course, the Democrats are also (supposedly) the masters of the blown political save, experts at devising new and ever more elaborate means of snatching electoral defeat from...

I think Obamania and the youth craze may be wearing off, as voters are starting to see that there is no there there... Consider the latest 70 million barrels ploy. AP reports: "In a reversal, Barack Obama proposed Monday that the government sell 70 million barrels of oil from its strategic petroleum stockpile to help reduce gasoline prices." But wait — we have heard nothing from Obama the last 6 months other than a few million additional barrels per day would not make any difference at all. In contrast, 70 million taken out of the reserve equals less than 4...

LANSING, Mich. — Senator Barack Obama altered his position on Monday to call for tapping the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gasoline prices as he outlined an energy plan that contrasts with Senator John McCain’s greater emphasis on expanded offshore drilling and coal and nuclear technology. In a speech here and in a new advertisement, Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, also sought to portray his Republican rival, Mr. McCain, as “in the pocket” of oil giants that are profiting from gasoline priced at more than $4 a gallon. And in his speech, Mr. Obama called for a windfall...

A Republican plan to open more public land to oil exploration and drilling is “unworthy of serious debate,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on Monday. Under pressure from Republicans to call Congress back into session, Pelosi on Monday issued a statement saying that Democrats have already offered a “real solution” to the nation’s high energy prices. Democrats want to force President Bush to “free our oil” from the nation’s emergency stockpile. Diverting oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “would bring immediate relief within 10 days,” Pelosi insisted. She said a Republican plan to “give away public lands to Big...

This is OUR HOUSE!Nancy tried to silence them, but they heard US, the American people, LOUD AND CLEAR!They have stayed to fight the fight, it is our turn to stand with them.I urge ALL of you to come to YOUR HOUSE in Washington, DC and stand with our Representatives Leading this call for Energy Independence. You do not need permission or an invitation. We, the PEOPLE, DEMAND an up or down vote. We have not only the RIGHT, but the OBLIGATION and DUTY, to peacably assemble, and to petition the Government for a REDRESS of GRIEVANCES! If you cannot come...

Barack Obama proposed tapping the strategic oil reserve on Monday to help lower gas prices, reversing an earlier stance, and called rival John McCain a tool of big oil companies as rising energy costs took center stage in the U.S. presidential campaign.

Via Jim Geraghty, who caught this even while on vacation. In August 2005, Obama agreed with George Bush’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to buffer the economy from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, Obama warned that such actions should only take place in times of real emergency ... Today, we discovered what Barack Obama considers a genuine emergency — a drop in the polls:

Barack Obama on 7/7/08 (much more recent than the 2005 comments): "I do not believe that we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point. I have said and, in fact, supported a congressional resolution that said that we should suspend putting more oil into the strategic oil reserve, but the strategic oil reserve, I think, has to be reserved for a genuine emergency. You have a situation, let's say, where there was a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia that was destroyed as a consequence of terrorist acts, and you suddenly had huge amounts of oil taken out...

YouTube clip of Obama back on July 7th, 2008 saying that oil should not be released from the Strategic Oil Reserve. Now he wants oil released.