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View Full Version : Bush diverting oil from reserve to pumps


line-em-up
04-25-2006, 09:40 AM
Ok. I'm confused. The supposed reason that the gas prices are currently so high is because there is a supposed shortage of the newly refined gas made with ethanol. Something about how it has to be mixed locally, which creates a bottleneck for suppliers. If this is the case, how is suppling more oil going to help? I think he's just trying to look like he is doing something about the prices to help his public polls.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12469582/


President also orders investigations into whether industry is price gouging
Gasoline prices over $3 a gallon are posted at a Brooklyn, New York, gas station on Monday.
Updated: 10:25 a.m. ET April 25, 2006
WASHINGTON - President Bush has decided to temporarily halt deposits to the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve to make more oil available for consumer needs and relieve pressure on pump prices, a senior administration official said Tuesday

Bush, under pressure to do something about gasoline prices that are expected to stay high throughout the summer, was to announce the decision in a speech. It was part of a flurry of actions designed to demonstrate that the administration was trying to deal with rising prices. The government also asked states on Tuesday to guard against unfair pricing.

The president has also order investigations into whether the price of gasoline has been illegally manipulated.

During the last few days, Bush asked his Energy and Justice departments to open inquiries into possible cheating in the gasoline markets, said White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. Bush planned to announce the action Tuesday during a speech in Washington.

Bush is under pressure to do something about gas prices that have reached nearly $3 a gallon. In a new CNN poll, 69 percent of respondents said gasoline price increases had caused them personal hardship. Other polls suggest that voters favor Democrats over Republicans on the issue, and President Bush gets low marks for handling gas prices.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged Bush in a letter Monday to order a federal investigation into any gasoline price gouging or market speculation.


Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada dispatched his own letter, calling for a multi-pronged approach to restrain gas prices. Among the steps were swift enactment of anti-price gouging legislation, an appeal to oil companies to refrain from further price increases; use of more alternative fuels and increased attention to existing fuel-saving laws and regulations.

Bush was working on the speech aboard Air Force One as he flew home Monday evening from a four-day trip to California that ended with a swing through Las Vegas. McClellan outlined part of the speech to reporters traveling on the plane.

Initiatives from attorney general, FTC
McClellan said Bush also will announce that his attorney general and Federal Trade Commission will send a letter to all 50 state attorneys general, who have primary authority over price gouging, to remind them to stay on top of the issue and offer federal help to do so. And he will call on energy companies to reinvest their profits into expanding refining capacity, developing new technologies and researching alternative energy sources.

"I think you'll hear the president say very clearly that he will not tolerate price gouging," McClellan said.


Bush has consistently said that gas prices are high because global demand is rising faster than global supply and that the problem cannot be solved overnight. McClellan said Bush will talk about how experts predict that the price is expected to increase this summer and how the switch to a summer fuel mix is contributing to the problem.

Bush's actions are part of a four-part plan to address gas prices in the short- and long-term, McClellan said. The steps McClellan outlined are: making sure consumers and taxpayers are treated fairly; promoting greater fuel efficiency; boosting gasoline supply at home; and aggressively investing in alternative fuels on a long-term basis.

fitzwell
04-25-2006, 10:00 AM
all of which helps how ???

Bush will not tolerate "price gouging". If you think Exxon had record profits last quarter, wait until this quarter's announcement.
Exxon makes it coming out(oil exploration) and going out (gasoline). I'm sure the accounting staff has the figures to show that gasoline profits are justified.
The last of the refineries hit by Katrina are due back on line this month, which will do not much, seems as though the ethanol is now the issue, can't pipeline, must run by truck, or rail. Added bonus : Ethanol is corrosive & less effieient :eek:

Asshat senator stated that big oil should reinvest profits into new refineries. Little does he know the epa has effectively taken care of that. Not to mention the tree huggers that will show up to protest a new plant that will kill some freakin squirrel population. After they make their piont, they will all get in their SUV's (one per vehicle) and drive off, knowing thet they have saved the world another day

sheesh :mad:

AL P
04-25-2006, 11:09 AM
This was just politicin' on Bush's part.

It is amusing to see the environmental douchebags complain about the high price of gas because they've let the EPA go apeshit.

Vertnut
04-25-2006, 11:22 AM
This was just politicin' on Bush's part.

It is amusing to see the environmental douchebags complain about the high price of gas because they've let the EPA go apeshit.
One point that is never mentioned about not " relying on foreign oil"- let's drill more here! The EPA is about $1.00's worth of our $3.00 gas. They are going to find that Ethanol is NOT the silver bullet to emmissions issues, gas mileage, or fuel costs'. It took them 10 years to figure out that MTBE was poisoning our water supply...the EPA! They should know this shit going in! Exxon makes about an 8% profit margin. What do the Ethanol guys make? Anyone know? Hell no! I'll bet it's more than 8%...

GhostTX
04-25-2006, 11:36 AM
I wanna know why we sell our own oil overseas? There's like a huge precentage of Alaskan oil that gets shipped to Japan.

Fobra
04-25-2006, 11:45 AM
Well this sounds like good news, hopefully it will actually result in good news.

WASHINGTON - WASHINGTON - President Bush on Tuesday ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand and possibly dampen prices at the pump. He also halted for the summer the purchase of crude oil for the government's emergency reserve. Bush also announced steps to ease environmental standards governing fuel grades.
http://www.yahoo.com/s/297944

fitzwell
04-25-2006, 11:50 AM
One point that is never mentioned about not " relying on foreign oil"- let's drill more here! The EPA is about $1.00's worth of our $3.00 gas. They are going to find that Ethanol is NOT the silver bullet to emmissions issues, gas mileage, or fuel costs'. It took them 10 years to figure out that MTBE was poisoning our water supply...the EPA! They should know this shit going in! Exxon makes about an 8% profit margin. What do the Ethanol guys make? Anyone know? Hell no! I'll bet it's more than 8%...

yep...."we're from the EPA and we're here to clean things up" :eek:

Fuckin morons. They tried this shit in the midwest in the late 70's....didn't work then either. Ethanol still attacks most rubber, although newer vehicles have a differens compound rubber in the hoses. It is also less efficient.....
If someone can explain the logistics of how we can have a fuel additive that decreases fuel milage (by some accounts, up to 10 % ) how that makes us less dependant on foreign oil, i would like to hear it

46Tbird
04-25-2006, 01:25 PM
Just like NASA and the IRS and, well, the federal government, the EPA is too fucking big to do anything good.

Time to STREAMLINE this shit, fire some government employees.

AL P
04-25-2006, 01:48 PM
Time to STREAMLINE this shit, fire some government employees.

WHAT? That would be too much like something we call efficiency...

Vertnut
04-25-2006, 02:16 PM
WHAT? That would be too much like something we call efficiency...

The EPA is another United Nations. They are a political entity that accomplishes nothing. They jump in with all their statistical bullshit, and start throwing money at the problem...OUR money. Just like MTBE, they are going to find out that Ethanol is not the answer. I just hope it's not too late.