Despite the recent fall in oil prices, analysts say President Obama is still likely to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as sanctions on Iran take hold.
While high gas prices are draining the wallets of American motorists, they're also driving heated debate over opening the spigot on the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
President Obama is facing pressure to tap the nation's oil reserves. CNN discusses what that would mean for gas prices.
When gas prices are climbing, as they are now, there's an equivalent surge in talk of tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Washington's most powerful business lobby panned the Obama administration's decision to tap the nation's strategic oil reserve Thursday, calling the move "ill-advised."
The U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday it will release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate Libyan supply disruptions -- driving already sinking prices lower.
Boosting the nation's oil supply could lower gas prices as much as 50 cents a gallon, but relief at the pump is still weeks away.
The chief executive of French oil company Total said tapping the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is unnecessary, would signal fear and ultimately could drive energy prices higher.
Gas prices are alarmingly high. But perhaps the only thing more troubling than their rapid rise is that politicians are now wondering if the United States should tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try and force prices lower.
Three House Democrats urged President Obama Thursday to tap the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as turmoil in the Middle East pushed oil prices over $100 a barrel.
Gasoline prices continued to fall , according to a nationwide survey of gas station credit card swipes, even after Hurricane Gustav caused the shutdown of more than a dozen Louisiana refineries in the past several days.
Stocks jumped Thursday, with the Dow and S&P 500 rising for the third straight session thanks to lower oil prices, a surprisingly strong reading on second-quarter economic growth, and a rally in the financial sector.
Oil prices ended lower Thursday, reversing an early spike, as traders sized up a potentially devastating blow to production from Tropical Storm Gustav and reacted to a decline in natural gas prices.
Oil prices plummeted Friday, erasing the previous session's spike, as the dollar strengthened and investors worried that a decline in demand will spread outside the United States.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday that he feels Americans' pain from rising energy costs and laid out his plan to break the country's "addiction" to oil.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called President Bush "a total failure" on Thursday, among the California Democrat's harshest assessments to date of the president.
Oil prices were virtually unchanged Monday as a plan to aid the major U.S. mortgage finance firms was countered by continuing concerns about supply, particularly after Brazilian oil workers began a 5-day strike.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Democratic initiative that would have taxed the windfall profits oil companies have enjoyed due to rising energy prices, with the minority leader calling the proposal a "gimmick."
With a nationwide average gas price of just about $4 a gallon, lots of people are thinking there must be something the government can do to help.
Speculation in the commodity markets took much of the blame for skyrocketing energy and food prices at a Senate hearing Tuesday
President Bush will sign a bill halting U.S. government purchases of oil to replenish the nation's emergency supply, a White House spokesman said Monday.
Oil's rapid rise
updated: Thu May 15 2008 07:19:00
CNN Senior Business Correspondent Ali Velshi looks at the jump in oil prices and how it is affecting companies like FedEx.
Congress, as part of a plan to tame record oil prices, is voting Tuesday on measures aimed at stopping President Bush from continuing to fill the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
As gas prices hit another record high Thursday, senators in Washington suggested Congress may need to intervene and change how investors buy and sell oil.
China's oil lustupdated: Wed Jan 02 2008 22:57:00
CNN's John Vause looks at how China's booming economy helped push oil to more than $100 a barrel.
A Senate panel grilled a key government energy expert Tuesday over why the Bush administration plans to continue adding to the nation's oil reserve as the price of crude spikes near $100 a barrel.
Oil prices moved into positive territory Wednesday, finishing slightly higher despite a government report that revealed a surprising jump in U.S. distillates and gasoline supplies.
The biggest oilfield in the United States is shutting down because of severe corrosion. Alaska's Prudhoe Bay pipeline supplies about 8 percent of the nation's oil supply. Keep in mind, this pipeline had the biggest ever recorded oil spill in that region five months ago.
CNNMoney: Oil ends above $72updated: Wed Jun 28 2006 10:28:00
Oil prices ended higher Wednesday after a government report said supplies of crude oil and gasoline fell more than expected.
As gasoline prices surpass $3 a gallon nationwide, CNN.com asked readers what they thought of President Bush's proposals to tackle the problem, including halting deposits to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and an investigation into whether price gouging has occurred.
Oil prices fell Wednesday after a government report said gasoline supplies fell less than forecasters had expected.
Fortune: by the numbersupdated: Mon Oct 17 2005 00:01:00
President Bush's career as an oil exec may have been undistinguished, but as U.S. chief executive he's done just fine managing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, our nation's emergency oil stockpile. Since taking office, he's added more than $6.5 billion worth of crude--all without spending a dime. In November 2001, on the heels of 9/11, Bush decided to fill the SPR to its then-700-million-barrel capacity. The price of oil has since nearly tripled. Bush avoided paying for the crude by taking advantage of an existing barter exchange between producers and the federal government, which trades oil for the use of government land. After Hurricane Katrina slowed production, the President--in an effort to ease supply shortages--sold 11 million barrels of oil for between $60 and $66 a barrel, bringing $702 million into federal coffers. The Department of Energy estimates that the SPR's stock has been acquired for an average cost of $27 per barrel. If it were all sold today, it'd be worth $44 billion. There's nothing
Two Democratic senators proposed legislation Thursday that would create an emergency gasoline and jet-fuel reserve.
President Bush said Monday his administration is willing to tap the nation's strategic oil reserve to deal with supply shortfalls caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and urged Americans to practice energy conservation.
Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman announced Thursday that the Department of Energy has approved two requests for a loan of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
Stocks looked set for a higher opening Thursday as investors digested a batch of economic reports.
Even before feeling the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina, more than two-thirds of Americans said this week that high gas prices were causing them financial hardship -- 18 percent claiming serious hardship, 51 percent moderate hardship.
Stocks gripped the unchanged line Wednesday morning as relief about falling oil prices was tempered by disappointment that second-quarter economic growth was slower than thought.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday that the White House plans on tapping the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help refiners hurt by Hurricane Katrina.
Oil prices continued to slide Wednesday and hovered around the $49 a barrel level after the government reported that crude supplies jumped by 6.3 million barrels last week.
U.S. Treasury prices slumped Wednesday, sending the yield on the 10-year note above 4.10 percent, as the perception that President Bush apparently won re-election drew money out of fixed-income securities and into equities.
CNNMoney: Oil tumbles below $53updated: Wed Oct 27 2004 11:07:00
Oil prices tumbled nearly $3 a barrel Wednesday after a report showing a bigger jump in crude oil inventories than traders and analysts had expected.
Worry about gasoline prices if you want.
Stocks barely budged at the open Friday, as investors took in a weaker report on durable goods orders and kept an eye on oil prices.
BUSH'S CLAIM: Gas prices wouldn't be so high today had Clinton approved oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in 1995. Says Bush: "An additional million barrels would have...
U.S. inventories of crude oil fell last week but stocks of distillate fuels -- the basis of home heating oil -- rose, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Senator John Kerry has the reputation of a man who picks his words--and battles--carefully. But in recent months the Bush campaign's vaunted attack machine has spent millions portraying Kerry as a ...
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Spiraling gas prices are hammering consumers nationwide and not just on the roadways.
When the price of crude oil recently passed $40 a barrel, most people blamed panicky traders and greedy speculators. Indeed, fear of war has helped push up prices from around $20 since Iraq invaded...
IF ANYTHING resembling President Reagan's budget passes, the U.S. will be able to celebrate the Administration's first step toward fiscal restraint. But it will only be a small step--and it is like...
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|