Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (38871)	3/5/2004 1:28:18 PM
From: lurqer	Respond to of 89467

Oil Prices Rise, Supply Falls During Bush Years By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three years ago, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were seen as the U.S. oil industry's dream team and most capable of tackling America's energy problems, as both were former oil executives. However, with nationwide gasoline prices expected this month to top a record $1.75 per gallon, government energy data shows many problems still exist. Energy costs -- and smaller supplies -- have pinched the pocketbooks of consumers and pushed up business expenses. Some Wall Street analysts see little relief in sight. "It looks like another two years of high crude and petroleum prices," Jay Saunders, energy analyst at DeutscheBank, told a Senate hearing on Thursday. Shortly after taking office Bush, a former Texas oilman, created a White House task force to overhaul energy policy and boost oil and natural gas production. Cheney, the former chief of oilfield services firm Halliburton, headed the panel. The results have been mixed. While various government agencies have adopted most of the task force's recommendations, the White House did not persuade Congress to pass a broad energy bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The House of Representatives easily approved drilling in the refuge, which was a key part of Bush's national energy plan. But Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry joined other Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Senate to block the government from opening the refuge. However, even if ANWR was opened to drilling, oil industry experts say it would take about 10 years for the area to reach full production. When asked if failure to pass energy legislation was a political liability for Bush, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Thursday, "I think the question should be whether the Congress is prepared to go into the election season having once again -- if it does -- fail to pass an energy bill." "This administration has done everything we can," he said. When Bush was sworn into office in January 2001, the national weekly price for gasoline averaged $1.47 a gallon. This week, the pump price stood at $1.72, just three cents below the record set last August. Gasoline costs are forecast to remain high through the busy spring and summer driving months, according to the Energy Information Administration, a statistical agency. Abraham said the Bush administration was "extremely concerned" about rising gasoline prices, but did not say what, if anything, the White House was doing about the problem. Guy Caruso, EIA administrator, said OPEC ministers are to blame for high prices and U.S. oil inventories that recently slid to the lowest level since the mid-1970s. "They played a role by restraining supply," he said of OPEC. Still, the White House has refrained from criticizing OPEC. "We don't comment publicly on OPEC policy," is the typical administration response to the cartel's output decisions. That stands in sharp contrast to Bush's remarks while a presidential candidate in January 2000. "What I think the president ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots," Bush said at the time. "The president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price." Although the Bush team has succeeded in granting more permits for natural gas drilling on federal lands in Western states, U.S. crude oil output has continued a steady decline. Oil output fell from 5.80 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2001 to 5.74 million bpd last year. This year, it is expected to drop to 5.63 million bpd this year, the EIA said. At the same time, U.S. oil demand continues to rise. Imports of crude oil rose from 10.90 million bpd in Bush's first year to 11.28 million bpd last year to make up for declining production. EIA projects oil shipments will average 11.65 million bpd in 2004. As a result, oil imports accounted for 56.4 percent of U.S. crude supplies consumed last year, up 1 percent from 2001. This year, the nation will import 57 percent. The price U.S. refiners paid for that foreign oil averaged $22 a barrel during Bush's first year, $27.74 in 2003 and should cost $27.68 this year, according EIA. During the past three years, OPEC raked in an estimated $620 billion from the United States and other oil buyers. One area where the administration says it has improved U.S. energy security is boosting the emergency oil stockpile, which was created by Congress in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo Since taking office, the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has increased by 106 million barrels to 647 million barrels. Critics say the White House should have kept the extra barrels in the market to increase supplies and lower prices. reuters.com lurqer