Sen. Jeff Bingaman called on President Obama this week to be ready to tap the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to surging oil and retail gasoline prices. High gas prices alone aren't enough to justify tapping the reserve, but announcing a sale from the reserve would help moderate prices, said Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Resources and Energy Committee.
The president should "be ready to consider a release of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve if the situation in the Libya deteriorates further," Bingaman, D-N.M., said in a Senate floor speech Wednesday. Gasoline has climbed more than 29 cents per gallon since the uprising in Libya began in the middle of February, costing Americans an extra $108 million per day to buy the same amount of fuel. Albuquerqueans are paying an average of $3.32 a gallon at the pump - a 17-cent hike in one week.
"Between the lost production in Libya, the crude-oil dislocation associated with additional Saudi production, and the prospect of further turmoil in the region, we are now unquestionably facing a physical oil supply disruption that is at risk of getting worse before it gets better," Bingaman said. Other lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also urged Obama to tap into the reserve.
The administration said Wednesday it is "confident that the global system has the capacity to deal with major disruptions in oil supply." A spokesman would not address whether Obama was considering options such as opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. National pump prices jumped another 4 cents Thursday to a new national average of $3.43 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service.
New Mexico drivers on average are forking over $3.38 for a gallon of unleaded regular. The 18-cent hike in one week represents the biggest one-week increase since September 2005, AAA New Mexico reported Thursday. Albuquerque has the least expensive gasoline in the state at $3.32 a gallon; still, that's a jump of 17 cents. Motorists in Las Cruces are paying the most at $3.36, up 21 cents in a week. The most expensive gas is in Hawaii at $3.82. The lowest in the country is in Montana and Wyoming at $3.12.
"Depending on the city they're driving in, motorists are now paying at least $10 more per fill-up than they were a year ago," said AAA New Mexico spokesman Dan Ronan. "As was the case in 2008, this pocket book issue will likely mean drivers will make changes in the number of trips they take, consolidating them and being more careful about how they drive." Analyst and trader Stephen Schork said gasoline could rise another 32 cents per gallon this spring, peaking as high as $3.80 by summer. Flying is getting more expensive as well. Jet fuel prices have risen about 13 percent in two weeks and are now up 46 percent from a year ago. In turn, U.S. airlines have raised fares six times this year. Last month, they tacked fuel surcharges of $3 to $5 on domestic tickets, something they hadn't done since 2008.
What are your thoughts on this subject? Are gas prices so high that we need to start thinking about this? Do you find it strange that situations occuring in other countries like Libya, can affect our daily lives?
-Noriega
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I think that the gas prices are not too high that we might have to tap into the reserves. The increased gas prices right now are just going to add a little more stress in the amount of money that people need to save for gas. I do not find it strange that situations occurring in other countries like Libya can effect our daily lives because we get a lot of our resources from other countries and if one of the countries that supply oil to use decides to stop, then our gas prices will sky-rocket.
ReplyDeleteI think that the problems in Lybia are effecting us wrongly. They need to get themselves together because their problems are effecting us. President Obama needs to do something about this and not just sit down adn do nothing, or else we might have to tap into our reserves. -Tyler Walker
ReplyDeleteI accredit that if the gasoline prices get high enough we might have to dig into are Strategic Petroleum Reserve. President Obama needs to face the complication because if the prices go up it will effect businesses and will worsen the economy.
ReplyDelete-Ronnie Bowman
I think that we use the Federal oil reserve as a last resort, and that tapping it because of higher prices would be incredibly myopic and wasteful, and we would deeply regret it if more urgent situations affected the country in the future. Instead, I think we as a country should focus on solving the conflict in Libya so the Oil industry there can continue drilling, solving for oil prices and allowing the reserve to remain untapped.
ReplyDelete-Benjamin Hall
epic fail! why not just tap into them now?
ReplyDeleteObama is just choosing to not comment on this cause he got us trouble, again! drilling would do what to harm us? nothing thats what. we would benefit and US citizens would be happier knowing that they don have to spend their entire check on gas. i don't care either way, there isn't anything commenting on this would do.
I think that we will eventually have to drill in our country, but we don't have to yet. It isn't necessary to drill now because gas prices are not too high for Americans to pay. If the situation in Libya continues to escalate, we might have to drill into our reserves not only to lower gas prices, but to remove one of Libya's chief exports thus cutting funds to their military.
ReplyDeleteI feel that gas prices are not too high. It's a little extreme that we have to tap into our resources. We shouldn't be digging for oil everywhere and anywhere. If anything oil drilling should be reduced.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the gas prices are way to high. I also think that Obama and the government should do whatever is possible to lower them before most Americans can't afford to put gas in their cars.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the petroleum reserve should not be used because this is not that major of a problem at the moment. Before any premature tapping of the reserve takes places the government should send help to Libya to try and solve the problem to restore oil drilling. In the mean time, Americans are going to have to hold on and use money and gas wisely .
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the prices of gas are the same they were im 2008 and that i dont think there too high. although I am a kid so I would think that it is a little to high for adults. It is a little extreme to get into the reserves. I would think that things that are happening in other parts in the world woulld affect us because we do alot of trading with other parts in the world.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is nothing to be angry or alarmed about we have seen prices like this before but when it comes to tapping into our reserves that gets a bit scary. We are very affected by world events when it comes to fuel.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that America needed to drill into it's own oil reserves as it is. We've been relying on other countries for far too long. America should be self-sufficient, we pay so much more to have oil imported to us. Besides, why does it matter that it's our oil on the line? It'll have to be used sometime, I say we start using it now.
ReplyDelete