U.S. Weighs Borrowing Oil From Stockpile

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Thursday it is weighing a request from several U.S. refiners to borrow crude oil from the nation's emergency stockpile to help offset supply disruptions along the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Ivan.

"Certainly Hurricane Ivan had an effect on the supply of oil imports and production in the Gulf of Mexico," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "It has limited some refiners' access to crude oil supplies."

He said that the Department of Energy was reviewing the requests.

In the past, President Bush has resisted calls to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, located in Texas and Louisiana, in an effort to counter soaring prices. Bush had criticized President Clinton's move in the fall of 2000 to tap the reserve, saying it was a political effort to help Democrat Al Gore, Bush's opponent in the 2000 election.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-oil-reserve,0,4969639.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[gauguin57]

1. Eeek! Peak oil?

:scared:

[trueblew]

2. President Flip-Flops Again

[HysteryDiagnosis]

3. It's not a flip flop when shrub does it.... it is a stragegery planned out

long before its time of implementation.

www.ch2bc.org <------- Answers to much of what ails us.

[benfranklin1776]

4. MAJOR LEAGUE FLIP FLOP

The shameless gall of this craven bunch. Doing the exact same thing they blasted Gore for. I remember ol Crashcart on all the talk shows in 2000 crying crocodile tears about "now political it was" and how they would never intervene to disrupt the sacred market. I hope JFK and Edwards roast Dick and Junior's chestnuts for this particular backflip that even the Karamazov's would have trouble pulling off. A good opportunity to highlight this maladminstration's utterly failed energy policy and how once again, as in every area foreign and domestic, we can and will do better under a Kerry administration.

[KansDem]

6. Agreed. Here's what Bush said in 2000...

"The strategic reserve is an insurance policy meant for sudden disruption of oil supplies or for war," GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush said during a campaign stop in Cleveland. "The strategic reserve should not be used as an attempt to drive down oil prices right before an election."

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe/daily/20000923/fco23...

I hope the Kerry Campaign makes use of this...!

[Supersedeas]

9. But gas prices in October matter so much to the Rovians

[Zorra]

5. How much oil is wasted every day in Iraq? Bu$h is destroying America.

Iraq is a total loss.

A total loss in lives and injuries, in critical resources, in taxpayer money, in environmental destruction. What a complete waste.

As Bu$h once said, Iraq is a catastrophic success. Bu$h has led the US into a historically unprecedented senseless catastrophe.

What a wonderful thing Bu$h did for America by lying us into this unnecessary, unjustifiable, totally stupid war.

Fuck you, Bu$h, you asshole.

Please, just go away before you damage our country more than you already have.

[Mrs_Beastman]

7. I'm too angry to make a sentence right now

chimp....flip flop......desparate.......brainless......no forsight....argh!

[Ezlivin]

8. The Government is good at borrowing

They've borrowed money and got us into incredible debt.

They've borrowed trouble (from Iraq).

They've borrowed time (Bush's semi-permanent state of vacation).

They've borrowed lives (see: Iraq).

It's just a terrible pity that they are frightfully awful at ever paying back what they've borrowed.

[legin]

10. This could be a couple of 5m barrel tranches

This was one of the options proposed before the 2000 election.

"The White House says President Clinton is considering a call from Vice-President Al Gore to use the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bring down the price of oil.

Mr Gore proposed in a presidential campaign speech that oil from the reserve be released in batches of 5m barrels."

<<snip (not much else of interest)>>

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/935909.stm

[goodboy]

11. Why should they do that when they already have a deal with Bandar

To lower oil prices right before the election?

[ElectroPrincess]

yes, that makes sense.

All those FOX watching sheeple in their SUVs should NOT look behind the curtain until after the election, i.e., the draft, massive job cuts and soaring oil prices for Dick's buddies.

[ElectroPrincess]

14. oops!

dupe

[Xipe Totec]

12. Guys, you're missing the BIG PICTURE!

This is another rape of the country by the Bushistas.

They are not SELLING the oil on the free market, the are LOANING it to certain select refiners who will return the oil to the reserve at a later date. This is called a PIK, or Payment In Kind contract. The Shrub could argue that he did not break his word because he is not selling, he is loaning the oil, but that is not the bad part.

The bad part is that the refiners will get to use oil that costs $48/bbl today, and return it later when supplies stabilize and prices drop to, say $40/bbl and POCKET an $8/bbl arbitrage risk-free! They will then have stolen $8 dollars that you paid for each barrel of oil loaned out of the reserve, and will have done so LEGALLY!

Why is the media not howling foul?! Oh, right, I remember. Pravda is busy lynching Dan Rather and CBS over some fool documents.


:nuke:

[Whoa_Nelly]

13. In a word: Alaska

IMO, should the Feds follow through and abuse the taking from the reserve oil supply, it will indicate the need for and further justify the much sought-after raping of Alaska.
The BushCo regime is most evil, venal, fucked-upped and frightening bunch of US politicians to ever be in power.