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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (63482)	4/9/2006 9:55:30 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 361327

' Bodman also said that a proposal from six U.S. senators to sue the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for price fixing was "not realistic." ' LMAO; idiots. Summer fuel shortages, spikes possible: Bodman By Nick Carey Fri Apr 7, 5:35 PM ET BATAVIA, Illinois (Reuters) - U.S. consumers may face gasoline shortages or price hikes at the pump this summer due to fuel additive changes at refineries and a likely strong hurricane season, the U.S. Energy Secretary said on Friday. "We face a combination of factors that could mean some localized shortages," Samuel Bodman said in an interview with Reuters, adding that the markets should sort themselves out quickly. Bodman spoke with Reuters during a visit to Fermilab, the largest U.S. laboratory for studying particle physics, which is located in Batavia, Illinois. Bodman said with U.S. refineries running at 86 percent capacity following the battering they received from hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, high crude oil prices and an annual U.S. shift to summer gasoline, the switch by refineries to ethanol as a fuel additive from MTBE could result in shortages in some areas this summer. Most U.S. refiners will stop using methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, before the peak U.S. summer driving season kicks off. MTBE has been found to pollute water supplies and many refiners are gearing up to shift to ethanol as an additive to produce cleaner-burning fuel. Most U.S. ethanol is produced in the Midwest from locally grown corn, and Bodman said shortages were most likely in areas furthest from supplies. "We expect there will be sufficient ethanol," Bodman reiterated. "But it is reasonable to expect that some areas could experience fits and starts, but that shouldn't last too long." Bodman said the U.S. government is preparing for what meteorologists are warning could be another heavy hurricane season this summer after Katrina and Rita hit the southern U.S. coast last year, flooded New Orleans and disabled a large chunk of the oil production and refining capacity along the Gulf of Mexico. The government's plans include laying in additional gasoline supplies for cities that may face evacuation, plus preparing back-up power generators for those cities. "If we suffer major blows similar to the ones we had last year, we will face similar problems," Bodman said. "But this year we will be ready to respond better than we did last year," he added. Bodman also said that a proposal from six U.S. senators to sue the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for price fixing was "not realistic." "Many oil producing countries do not operate in a manner consistent with U.S. federal law, but they are not based here," Bodman said. He said he is working on getting countries that have benefited from high oil prices to invest in expanding production capacity to keep prices down, a strategy he said is working. The "Petroleum Industry Antitrust Act of 2006" received the backing of six senators on Thursday including Republican Arlen Specter, who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl. It would allow the U.S. attorney general to sue oil producing cartels for limiting production or setting prices -- a provision seen as targeting OPEC, which pumps about a third of the world's crude oil. "It is much better to have an effective working relationship with these countries and you cannot do that if you are suing them," Bodman said. "Suing someone is a matter of last resort and it is not wise to sue someone if they are holding the ultimate tickets." news.yahoo.com