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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry

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To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (28427)6/4/2004 2:40:10 PM
From: SkywatcherRead Replies (2) of 81568
 
Bush is SO BEHIND THE CURVE...just like his father....it's the economy STUPID....and GAS PRICES ARE THE PROBLEM.....
SIX MONTHS LATE WITH THIS!
US Urges Oil Refiners to Run at Capacity
Friday June 4, 2:21 pm ET
By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Friday he has urged American oil refiners to run at full capacity to ensure there is plenty of gasoline for drivers this summer.

Abraham told reporters he received assurances from the U.S. oil refining industry at a meeting on Thursday that they would operate full-out during the summer, when demand for gasoline peaks.

"I made it clear to them that we wanted to see no diminishment in refining capacity during this peak summertime period," Abraham said.

The meeting at the Energy Department's headquarters was with the heads of the American Petroleum Institute (News - Websites) and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.

Abraham said he urged the officials "to take every action necessary to avoid...any non-essential shutdowns of operations" at the U.S. oil refining facilities.

"We received assurances from them that the industry is in fact operating with an eye to keeping as much refining capacity in place as possible throughout the months ahead," Abraham said.

The Energy Department will be "monitoring" how U.S. refineries are operating, he said.

"My sense is, they would operate at absolute limits," he added.

The U.S. average retail gasoline price rose to a record $2.06 per gallon last month, reflecting a rise in crude oil prices on nervousness about Middle East supplies.

After OPEC met on Thursday and agreed to boost its official production quota by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in July and add another 500,000 bpd in August, crude oil futures fell sharply.

Abraham also said he opposed conducting a 5 million barrel test sale of crude oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. When Congress passed legislation creating the oil stockpile, it included language to allow such a test sale.

Some energy industry experts have proposed such a test sale to demonstrate the Bush administration is ready to use the stockpile if needed, and they say it could also lower oil prices.

Abraham said the government "was prepared" to tap the reserve if there was "a serious disruption in supplies."

However, Abraham said the government would consider conducting a test sale if Energy Department experts believed it was necessary "to work the kinks out" in removing crude from the stockpile.

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