Obama flip flops on releasing Oil from the Strategic Reserve

[Soul Crusher]

Obama flip flops on Strategic Petroleum Reserve

posted at 2:50 pm on August 4, 2008

by Ed Morrissey Via Jim Geraghty, who caught this even while on vacation. 


In August 2005, Obama agreed with George Bush’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in order to buffer the economy from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.  However, Obama warned that such actions should only take place in times of real emergency (emphases mine):

I agree with the President’s decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help replenish supply shortages resulting from Hurricane Katrina. Nearly all oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut down, and releasing this oil will help increase production and stabilize prices. However, I do believe that this tragedy makes it very clear that that the reserve should only be used in the event of an emergency, and that we shouldn’t be tapping the reserve to provide a small, short-term decrease in gas prices.

And again last month, in St. Louis on July 7th:

I do not believe that we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point. I have said and, in fact, supported a congressional resolution that said that we should suspend putting more oil into the strategic oil reserve, but the strategic oil reserve, I think, has to be reserved for a genuine emergency. You have a situation, let’s say, where there was a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia that was destroyed as a consequence of terrorist acts, and you suddenly had huge amounts of oil taken out of the world market, we wouldn’t just be seeing $4-a-gallon oil. We could see a situation where entire sectors of the country had no oil to function at all. And that’s what the strategic oil reserve has to be for.

Today, we discovered what Barack Obama considers a genuine emergency — a drop in the polls:
Democrat Barack Obama called today for tapping the nation’s strategic oil reserves to help drive down gasoline prices, a shift from his previous position on the issue.

The reversal is the second refinement in Obama’s energy policy. Last week, he said that he would reluctantly consider accepting some offshore oil drilling. Obama had previously said he opposed such drilling, which is strongly backed by rival John McCain, who has urged that states be allowed to decide whether to drill.

Obama changed his position to protect Nancy Pelosi, who demanded a release from the SPR rather than allowing a debate and a vote on the House floor on increased domestic drilling.  However, a release from the SPR would only provide momentary relief and do nothing to resolve the underlying issue of higher gas prices — a supply shortage on the world markets.  Eventually, the US would have to refill the SPR, increasing demand which, without any increase in supply, would drive prices up even farther than they are now.


Obama used to have the intelligence to understand this.  Now he’s too desperate to care.






http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/04/obama-flip-flops-on-strategic-petroleum-reserve

[Soul Crusher]

I do not believe that we should use the strategic oil reserves at this point. I have said and, in fact, supported a congressional resolution that said that we should suspend putting more oil into the strategic oil reserve, but the strategic oil reserve, I think, has to be reserved for a genuine emergency. You have a situation, let’s say, where there was a major oil facility in Saudi Arabia that was destroyed as a consequence of terrorist acts, and you suddenly had huge amounts of oil taken out of the world market, we wouldn’t just be seeing $4-a-gallon oil. We could see a situation where entire sectors of the country had no oil to function at all. And that’s what the strategic oil reserve has to be for.

[Soul Crusher]

Obama to David Cameron: Let’s tap our strategic oil reserves together
Hotair ^ | 03/15/2012 | Ed Morrissey



Remember that Barack Obama insists that there are "no silver bullets" to fix the issue of high gas prices. So when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited Washington for high-level talks and the discussion turned to gas prices, what did Obama propose? According to Reuters, holy water and a garland of garlic:

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron discussed the possibility of releasing emergency oil reserves during a meeting on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the talks said, the first sign that Obama is starting to test global support for an effort to knock back near-record fuel prices. Obama raised the issue during a broad bilateral meeting at the White House, according to a UK official with knowledge of the discussion.

Asked about the talks, a senior Obama administration official said: “No agreement was reached. We will continue to work together to address energy security and oil price issues.” While U.S. officials have said for weeks that they will consider all possible measures – including a release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) – to prevent prices from derailing a nascent economic recovery, Wednesday’s meeting was the clearest indication that diplomatic talks were moving ahead. Discussions could last as long as several months before any decision is made, one of the sources said.

We’ve discussed the demand from Democrats on the strategic petroleum reserve on a number of occasions. The problem with the gasoline and oil markets isn’t a temporary disruption in a healthy supply, however, which is what the SPR is designed to buffer. The problem is a chronically and artificially suppressed supply, thanks to Democratic insistence on blocking domestic energy production and oil extraction over the last three decades or more.

This is what Obama refers to as the “silver bullet,” claiming that expanding drilling and extraction is a short-term policy that won’t enhance American energy independence. That’s utter nonsense; drilling is a long-term solution that actually addresses the chronic supply issue and — not coincidentally — the trade imbalance, the weak dollar, jobs, economic growth, and a number of other issues in the American economy. If drilling is short-term thinking, then what can a one-time release from the SPR be called — the ADD solution?

Jim Geraghty gives a chronicle of SPR releases:

The “emergency” would seem to be Obama’s poll numbers. Then again, this seems to be a Democratic candidate tradition; Al Gore called for the same move while running for president in 2000.

Oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been sold five times in its history: Most recently in 2011 during the conflict in Libya; in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina; a sale of $227 million worth of oil during fiscal year 1996 to reduce the federal budget deficit; in 1990-1991 during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and a small “test sale” in 1985.

And how well have those releases worked as long-term solutions? Tina Korbe noted that gas prices actually went higher within weeks of the release last summer. The only reason for an SPR release now would be for the “emergency” Jim identifies — the electoral emergency Obama will face if gas prices continue to rapidly increase.

The RNC has a new video out today showing just how often Obama has reminded us that there are “no silver bullets” on gas prices — and how little he has done to implement a long-term policy that will lower them:



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[Shockwave]

Dudes getting desperate, its almost election time and the chickes are coming home to roost from his energy policies, suddenly his whole admin from Chu to BO himself are singing a different tune.
Anyone who buys this shit for an instant should be fucking shot.

[Straw Man]

domestic oil production during Obama administration has risen after having declined starting all the way back to the Reagan Administration and thru both Bush 1, Clinton and Bush the Lesser

http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?country=us&product=oil&graph=production

[Soul Crusher]

domestic oil production during Obama administration has risen after having declined starting all the way back to the Reagan Administration and thru both Bush 1, Clinton and Bush the Lesser

http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?country=us&product=oil&graph=production

So why release oil from the stategic reserve if there is no supply problem?    hhhhmmmmmm???


And your chart is useless as most of the increases are on private land, nothing to do with anything Solyndrabama has done. 

[Shockwave]

domestic oil production during Obama administration has risen after having declined starting all the way back to the Reagan Administration and thru both Bush 1, Clinton and Bush the Lesser

http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?country=us&product=oil&graph=production

Jesus fucking christ, again with cooked numbers, FEDERAL DRILLING IS WAY DOWN, private is way up (Obama has no control of this).
Obama cannot take credit for high production when he's done his fucking best to lower it, he cant have it both ways, he cant claim to lower federal drilling to appease green guys and then point to higher total drilling due to private business to appease the general public upset with gas prices, doesnt work that way.

[Straw Man]

So why release oil from the stategic reserve if there is no supply problem?    hhhhmmmmmm???


And your chart is useless as most of the increases are on private land, nothing to do with anything Solyndrabama has done. 

the only reason to release it is if you think we can actually control and worldwide commodity market

can we do that?

[Soul Crusher]

the only reason to release it is if you think we can actually control and worldwide commodity market

can we do that?

     

[Straw Man]

Jesus fucking christ, again with cooked numbers, FEDERAL DRILLING IS WAY DOWN, private is way up (Obama has no control of this).
Obama cannot take credit for high production when he's done his fucking best to lower it, he cant have it both ways, he cant claim to lower federal drilling to appease green #### and then point to higher total drilling due to private business to appease the general public upset with gas prices, doesnt work that way.

LOL @ cooked

Obama has no control over private energy exploration ?

Can you explain why production declined under the entire Bush Administration and only started going up after Obama got in office?

[Straw Man]

    

is that you saying YES you believe we can control a world wide commodity market?

[Soul Crusher]

is that you saying YES you believe we can control a world wide commodity market?

We can have a lot of influence over it and what we pay at the pump through many measures, not one o which Obamalynsky will do.     

[Shockwave]

LOL @ cooked

Obama has no control over private energy exploration ?

Can you explain why production declined under the entire Bush Administration and only started going up after Obama got in office?

A. I dont give a fuck about Bush. He sucked ass too.
B. Everything Obama has done with regards to oil has been to REDUCE domestic drilling, only reason were up is due to PRIVATE DRILLING, and no matter of semantics can spin that.

Heres just 2 examples off teh top of my head
Keystone XL
Refusal to issue permits

Numbers are cooked because it is TOTAL oil production, if you saw a graph of Federal drilling its down something like 40%.
Private land drilling is up.
Federal land drilling is waaaayyyyy down.

Obama doesnt control drilling on private land.
He does on public land.

Obama has done everything in his power to slow down public land drilling. End. Of. Story.

[Straw Man]

A. I dont give a fuck about Bush. He sucked ass too.
B. Everything Obama has done with regards to oil has been to REDUCE domestic drilling, only reason were up is due to PRIVATE DRILLING, and no matter of semantics can spin that.

Heres just 2 examples off teh top of my head
Keystone XL
Refusal to issue permits

so can you explain why production was declining under all previous POTUS's?

[Soul Crusher]

so can you explain why production was declining under all previous POTUS's?

Cheney, Bush, Halliburton, Scotter Libby, Enron, Rumsfeld, et al.     

[Shockwave]

so can you explain why production was declining under all previous POTUS's?

Who cares why is was declining under other POTUS's? I dont know, I havent read into it, heres what I do know.

Obama has done everything in his power to decrease drilling in areas he has control over. (Read: Federal Lands)
Obama was refusing to issue permits, continually slow walks the permits he does issue, and has reduced drilling he has control over some 40%, so your point is invalid. Obama is doing everything he can to stop drilling, suddenly that now he has to deal with the reality of high prices at an election, hes trying to turn it around.

[Straw Man]

Cheney, Bush, Halliburton, Scotter Libby, Enron, Rumsfeld, et al.     

they were responsible for restricting domestic oil production?

how and why?

[Soul Crusher]

they were responsible for restricting domestic oil production?

how and why?

Of course - that is what obama reid / pelosi / boxer told me from 2006-2008 

[Shockwave]

they were responsible for restricting domestic oil production?

how and why?

There is 2 parts to this equation -
Federal Drilling
Private Drilling

And youre trying to shift the focus of this argument by bringing in irrelevants -
Obama's record has done nothing but fuck federal drilling, but since total oil production is up, somehow he gets the credit? Dont think so.

[Straw Man]

Who cares why is was declining under other POTUS's? I dont know, I havent read into it, heres what I do know.

Obama has done everything in his power to decrease drilling in areas he has control over. (Read: Federal Lands)
Obama was refusing to issue permits, continually slow walks the permits he does issue, and has reduced drilling he has control over some 40%, so your point is invalid. Obama is doing everything he can to stop drilling, suddenly that now he has to deal with the reality of high prices at an election, hes trying to turn it around.

yes, I know the talking points

the fact remains that domestic production went up as soon as Obama got in office and that was after years of declining

Wouldn't it be good if we required companies who got leases to drill on public land to only sell that oil in the US and only for a specific profit % just like we do with other governemtn contractors?

Why do we let private companies take our natural resources and sell them on the open market to the highest bidder?

Like any other governemtn contractor we should bid this out to the provider who will give the best deal to us rather than letting sell it outside the US

do you agree ?

[Straw Man]

There is 2 parts to this equation -
Federal Drilling
Private Drilling

And youre trying to shift the focus of this argument by bringing in irrelevants -
Obama's record has done nothing but fuck federal drilling, but since total oil production is up, somehow he gets the credit? Dont think so.

and yet you have no explanation why total domestic oil production declined under POTUS's that were supposed to be friendly to the oil industry

[Shockwave]

and yet you have no explanation why total domestic oil production declined under POTUS's that were supposed to be friendly to the oil industry

Lets see, maybe cause reduced supply = increased demand = increased MONEY!?

[Shockwave]

yes, I know the talking points

the fact remains that domestic production went up as soon as Obama got in office and that was after years of declining

Wouldn't it be good if we required companies who got leases to drill on public land to only sell that oil in the US and only for a specific profit % just like we do with other governemtn contractors?

Why do we let private companies take our natural resources and sell them on the open market to the highest bidder?

Like any other governemtn contractor we should bid this out to the provider who will give the best deal to us rather than letting sell it outside the US

do you agree ?

Of course I agree, thats not the point, the point people are arguing is that Obama is taking credit for high production when his policies have done nothing but hurt them, and now he's trying to take credit for shit he has nothing to do with!
None of what youre talking about has anything to do with the point at hand!

[howardroark]

Private profit seeking speculators will do a better job than the SPR. It's time for the SPR to be permanently disbanded. This along with a move to open up domestic energy production would do much to ease the problems we have with oil prices.

[howardroark]

yes, I know the talking points

the fact remains that domestic production went up as soon as Obama got in office and that was after years of declining

Wouldn't it be good if we required companies who got leases to drill on public land to only sell that oil in the US and only for a specific profit % just like we do with other governemtn contractors?

Why do we let private companies take our natural resources and sell them on the open market to the highest bidder?

Like any other governemtn contractor we should bid this out to the provider who will give the best deal to us rather than letting sell it outside the US

do you agree ?

Domestic production went up under Obama's Presidency because of private drilling in the Bakken. The POTUS has almost no power to affect how much drilling occurs on private lands. But Obama has been restricting how much oil drilling occurs on public lands - and that just restricts supply, thereby driving prices up.