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Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-11) called on President Bush to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“President Bush is sitting on over 700 million barrels of oil, purchased with tax dollars, in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” said Rep. McNerney. “Releasing oil from the reserve will help bring down the cost of gasoline and aid families who are struggling with the cost of filling up their tanks.
“The reserve is 97 percent full and it makes no sense for the President to allow that readily available oil to sit in a hole in the ground for safe-keeping while American families and businesses are suffering from record prices at the pump. After years of defending oil companies, President Bush should start defending consumers,” Rep. McNerney continued.
The President has broad authority to deploy oil from the reserves during times of national emergencies. Previous actions by the current and past presidents to use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve have reduced the price of oil and didn’t require the release of a large amount from the reserve.
Rep. McNerney was a co-sponsor of the House legislation that in May forced the president to stop filling the SPR at a rate of 70,000 barrels a day, a move that some economists estimated could lower the price of gas by anywhere from eight to 25 cents a gallon.
Additionally, Rep. McNerney has called on oil companies to begin exploring and drilling immediately on the 68 million acres of land they have already leased – an area the size of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and most of Maryland, combined. That acreage represents 81 percent of U.S. oil reserves.
Rep. McNerney has also called on California’s Attorney General, Jerry Brown, to initiate an investigation into the accuracy of gas pumps in the state. A similar investigation in New Jersey found pricing discrepancies, inaccurate octane ratings and inaccurate or out-of-tolerance equipment at gas stations across that state.
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