Tell the House of Saud, "sell until prices drop, or face us taking over the fields."
Senate pressures OPEC on prices
WASHINGTON TIMES
By Patrice Hill
April 25, 2008
New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer is joined yesterday by fellow Democratic Sens. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania in promoting the urging of OPEC countries to boost oil supplies.
Senate Democrats moved yesterday to put pressure on Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf oil states to increase oil supplies and bring down prices, saying they will block military sales to those OPEC countries unless they do.
The move appears aimed at giving the administration some leverage as it deals with the Gulf states, which are the only Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members with the capacity to pump significantly more oil. President Bush recently warned the region that high oil prices are plunging their "best customer" into a deep economic slump.
"We have a strategic partnership with the Saudis, but it seems to me a partnership works two ways," Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, North Dakota Democrat and chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference. "The Saudis want to purchase sophisticated weapons from our country. ... They should understand there are certain things we need from them as well."
The move came as gasoline prices continued to climb to new records, hitting $3.56 for regular gas nationwide, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Besides pressuring OPEC to increase supplies, Mr. Dorgan said he will attach an amendment to the farm bill to curb speculation that is driving up the price of oil and food commodities in the futures markets.
"I think there's excess speculation in the futures markets," he said. "We're working on a lot of different approaches," including barring the administration from filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when prices for fuel are so high.
The White House was cool to the idea of boycotting $14 billion of sophisticated arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Democrats said that nearly half the House and Senate have signed on to a resolution against the sales, which they said could not be replaced by China or Russia if the U.S. backs out of the deals.
"Once again, the Democrats are barking up the wrong tree," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "Arms deals are not favors that we do for friends; they are in our national strategic interests and something that we work closely with Congress on."
At the same time, White House National Economic Council director Keith Hennessey acknowledged that oil prices approaching $120 a barrel in recent days pose a potent threat to consumers and the economy, and could be helping to throw the economy into recession. |
