Gasoline $4 a Gallon? Reserves Released
Wednesday August 31, 2005
Updated: 31 August, 6 pm Pacific
So says experts interviewed by CNN Money. The impact on the economy could be the equivalent of the '70s oil embargo. In Atlanta, prices as high as $6 a gallon were reported today, causing Governor Sonny Perdue to declare a state of emergency.
Think about it: in 2004, gas prices spiked and the hurricane activity was nothing like what Katrina just wrought on the Gulf. (America gets 25 percent of her oil from the Gulf.) The average gasoline price in the US is 40 percent higher than last year. And crude prices -- up 65 percent since last year -- and gasoline futures hit a new record yesterday.
The feds released emergency oil reserves Tuesday night. Last August, Vice President Cheney opposed using oil reserves but with gas prices causing discontent, the Adminstration has played the pragmatic card. There are 700 million barrels of oil in reserve (about a three week supply). The Guardian reports that more than 1.4 million barrels a day of crude production capacity (about 7 percent of domestic demand) remain offline. However, crude alone will not help supply; refineries must run to turn the crude into consumer products.
Technorati Tags:
Gasoline, Katrina, Oil, Politics
So says experts interviewed by CNN Money. The impact on the economy could be the equivalent of the '70s oil embargo. In Atlanta, prices as high as $6 a gallon were reported today, causing Governor Sonny Perdue to declare a state of emergency.
Think about it: in 2004, gas prices spiked and the hurricane activity was nothing like what Katrina just wrought on the Gulf. (America gets 25 percent of her oil from the Gulf.) The average gasoline price in the US is 40 percent higher than last year. And crude prices -- up 65 percent since last year -- and gasoline futures hit a new record yesterday.
The feds released emergency oil reserves Tuesday night. Last August, Vice President Cheney opposed using oil reserves but with gas prices causing discontent, the Adminstration has played the pragmatic card. There are 700 million barrels of oil in reserve (about a three week supply). The Guardian reports that more than 1.4 million barrels a day of crude production capacity (about 7 percent of domestic demand) remain offline. However, crude alone will not help supply; refineries must run to turn the crude into consumer products.
Technorati Tags:
Gasoline, Katrina, Oil, Politics
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