+WHITE HOUSE CALLS OPEC PRODUCTION CUT 'DISAPPOINTING'>
--Energy Secretary Contacted OPEC Prior to Output Cut Decision
--Repeats, Won't Comment on Possible Fed Rate Decisions
By Heather Scott
WASHINGTON (MktNews) - OPEC's decision over the weekend to cut
output was disappointing, but the Bush administration will continue to
focus on long-term U.S. energy supply and reducing dependence on foreign
sources, a White House spokesman said Monday.
"The OPEC actions are a disappointment," press secretary Ari
Fleischer said at his regular briefing. "We're going to continue to work
with our OPEC allies focusing on the long-term, but there is no getting
around it, their actions over the weekend were a disappointment."
He said Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham contacted OPEC ministers
prior to the decision to cut production to express U.S. views.
In keeping with White House custom, Fleischer deflected a question
about the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy meeting Tuesday.
"I will not comment on any potential Fed actions. But I also want
to state that you need a combination of fiscal and monetary policy, in
the president's opinion," he said. The premise "that monetary policy is
more powerful than fiscal policy" is not "one that is shared by many
economists. You need both."
Peppered by questions about what the Bush team would do in the
coming weeks to head off what administration officials say is a
potential energy crunch this summer, Fleischer repeatedly stressed that
the focus will be on long-term policies.
In dealing with OPEC and domestic energy issues, Fleischer said
Bush should be "judged long-term. I don't think it's fair to have an
immediate snapshot evaluation."
"There is a long-term way to measure whether or not the United
States is becoming less reliant on foreign supplies of oil while
maintaining stability from the OPEC producers," he said.
"One of the reasons we have the problems we have today is because
nobody focused on the long-term five and 10 years ago," he continued,
noting that for example no U.S. refineries have been built for 25 years.
"The president is focused on finding a long-term solution to our
nation's energy problems, and he believes that's the most beneficial
step we can take. And he has taken the action that he could to help
California in the short-term and those steps did indeed prove
beneficial."
Asked whether Bush would use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the
case of a severe energy crunch, Fleischer said, "The president has never
ruled that out, but the president believes that is an emergency action
that should be taken not as a consequence of supply and demand
imbalances, but in terms of national security emergencies."
"The president continues to believe that the most important thing
we can do is to increase domestic supplies of energy, bar none."
AT least we are thinking about doing something
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