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This is the latest from this morning.
http://www.woai.com/news/national/st...D-E7216F9BE36C
White House to Release Crude Oil Reserves
United Press International
The White House has decided to release some of the 700 million barrels of crude oil it keeps against emergencies.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said administration officials have not decided how much of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tap as loans for U.S. refiners, but it will open the SPR.
"The SPR was put in place specifically for this kind of an event," Bodman said. "We now have, in some instances, problems with getting crude to some refineries."
The 700 million barrels of crude oil is stored in a series of huge salt caverns along the Gulf Coast. Some of the pipelines and terminals that link the reserves with refiners remained under water Wednesday.
Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 25 cents to $69.56 on Bodman's announcement. Crude prices had risen to more than $70 a barrel Tuesday before settling up $2.61 at $69.81 a barrel. Nine refineries, which account for about 12 percent of U.S. capacity, along the Gulf Coast are idled in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Nearly all Gulf oil production, which accounts for 25 percent of the U.S. supply, has stopped.
Now that is funny.
