Energy Dept. to Delay Oil Purchases

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-other/2006/oct/02/100204759.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department will hold off purchases of oil for the government's emergency reserve through the upcoming winter, the department said Monday.

The department said it will not try to recover 1.7 million barrels of crude oil that it loaned refineries a year ago after Hurricane Katrina, nor would it seek to purchase additional oil for the reserve until next spring so as not to take oil off the market during the heating season.

Last April, President Bush ordered a delay in deliveries of crude oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through the summer in an attempt to ease oil markets and dampen soaring gasoline prices. Analysts have said the decision probably had little impact on oil or gasoline prices since the amount of oil not being bought by the government was relatively small.

The United States uses more than 21 million barrels of oil a day.

<not much more>

[Wickerman]

1. odd

Bush waiting until after Nov elections when prices skyrocket? Give his "base" the best possible price?

[Sinistrous]

2. I seem to remember that the last major infusion to the strategic reserves

was made when oil prices were at a peak.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Sinistrous

[Wickerman]

3. sounds correct

and would follow

[liberal N proud]

4. Don't want to rock the price boat until after the election

Only 35 more days of cheap gas

[phantom power]

6. Kunstler speculated that the Bush admin could influence prices...

by choosing to not purchase for the strategic reserve. At any rate, events don't contradict that theory. And they've demonstrated that they will play politics with pretty much any tool at their disposal, ethics or national security be damned.

[louis-t]

7. I predict an attack on Iran right after the election

to be used as excuse for soaring prices.

[Nihil]

8. Or vice versa?

i.e., soaring prices being blamed on some (imagined or real)
aspect of Iran's policies leading to an attack.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Gotta wait til those prices get back up there to $3-$4 a gallon!

[JohnWxy]

9. They've got a couple months till heating oil demand increases. They want

to keep prices down as much as possible before elections.