As Iranian Talks Begin, Markey, 50+ Dems Press Obama to Keep SPR Option Open
As Iranian Talks Begin, Markey, 50+ Dems Press Obama to Keep SPR Option Open
Oil, Gas Prices Still High; SPR Provides Leverage against Wall Street Speculators, Iranian Leaders
WASHINGTON (April 13, 2012) – With international talks set to begin today with Iran related to Tehran’s attempts to produce nuclear weapons, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and more than 50 of his House Democratic colleagues are pressing President Obama to keep the option open to aggressively deploy the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. While gas prices have retreated slightly this week, oil prices remain unreasonably high due to Wall Street speculators using tensions with Iran to place a “fear premium” on the price of oil.
“We are writing you because we believe that it is essential that the United States have an aggressive strategy for releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat the speculators capitalizing on the fear in oil markets and to send a message to Iran that we are ready, willing, and able to deploy our oil reserves,” write the Democrats to Obama. “Signaling that the United States will continue to employ an aggressive SPR policy in the near-term would send a strong signal to oil markets responding to the unrest in the Middle East.”
As the letter notes, gas prices are up nearly 70 cents a gallon since Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz at the end of December. A recent survey of leading economists found that spiking oil and gas prices is believed to be the single greatest threat to create another economic downturn.
The United States is already reportedly in talks with international partners to devise a strategy to release oil from domestic and foreign reserves. The last four presidents, including President Obama last year, have released oil from the reserves, reducing prices by up to 33 percent.
The full letter from Rep. Markey and the 53 other Democrats to Obama can be found HERE.
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