Bush Prepared to Tap Heating Oil Reserve ("to do whatever it takes")

[sabra]

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1180133

Bush Prepared to Tap Heating Oil ReservePresident Bush Said to Be Ready to Tap Heating Oil Reserve if Necessary This Winter

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Oct 3, 2005 — President Bush is ready "to do whatever it takes" including, if necessary, tapping government stocks of heating oil to counter supply shortages this winter, his energy secretary said Monday.

Samuel Bodman said the twin hurricanes Katrina and Rita have dealt "a very significant blow" to the country's energy infrastructure" with almost all of the Gulf Coast's oil production, nearly 80 percent of the region's natural gas supplies, and a fifth of the country's refining capacity still shut down.

Bodman said that a decision to release additional government stocks of crude oil, or for the first time tap the government's Northeast heating oil reserve, will be considered by Bush.

"We are prepared to do what is necessary with regards to the strategic reserves," Bodman said, adding that the president has indicated "he is prepared to do whatever it takes" to meet supply needs.

[DS1]

1. So oil companies make hand over fist by selling heating oil

at the same prices, while the Gov't subsidizes their supply, then they get to charge the Gov't all sorts of money when they run out of reasons to keep the prices jacked up in order to refill the reserve..


Riiiiight

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

2. everything except make it affordable

as long as he and his cronies benefit, he will pretend to do
something to help.

Price of gas 2000
99 cents a gallon
Price of gas 2005
3.00 per gallon

Right in time for the heating season, when poor and elderly must
choose food, heat, medicine, which one will it be?

[FloridaPat]

3. The bigger problem is natural gas. Is he going to tap something

for that?

[Gunit_Sangh]

4. yeah

bovine fratulence (methane gas ya know)

[Xipe Totec]

5. No, we're screwed.

Natural gas pipeline capacity is limited by a bottleneck somewhere south of Pennsylvania. Gas needs to be transported north of the bottleneck during the summer and stored in northern gas fields. The stored gas is drawn down during the winter to make up the deficit.

Because of the disruption in supplies, those storage fields have not been filled. We could have a very serious gas shortage in the Northeast, the likes of which we have not seen since Nixon was in office.

Curtailment of gas service may be a real possibility. In such a case, heavy industry would be shut down first, then power plants that can switch to other fuels (#6 fuel oil first, then coal).

For all our sakes, I hope it's a mild winter this time.

[AnneD]

8. Well, the global warming

may produce more and stronger hurricanes in the Gulf that knock out our oil supplies but hey, winter should be warmer.....Sorry guys, you have been warned. We are getting so much help from FEMA and the 2 National guardsman left in the US that goodness knows when the rigs and refineries will come online again.:sarcasm:

[Xipe Totec]

10. Good news all over, huh?

Sorry to hear things are messed up in the oil patch. I have a lot of buddies working down there. I was hoping FEMA would do a better job this second go-around; now that it got bitch-slapped awake.

Funny thing is, global warming does not mean milder winters, in fact it may create colder winters. We will get more hurricanes up here too, except that they're later in the year and they're called nor-easters. We'll get feet of snow dumped on us instead of inches of rain.

[FloridaPat]

12. Most of my friends up north have natural gas. I have my fingers

crossed for them. I can't imagine the prices they could pay. When I lived in Syracuse my biggest monthly bill was $350. That was in 1980. Gas prices have come a long way since then.

[Strelnikov_]

9. Nothing To Tap. Storage Of 3,300 Bcf Is Made In Advance

of high demand period in winter. By the end of winter, it is down to 800 Bcf. The US uses 24,000+/- Bcf per year.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngs/ngs.html

[meisje]

6. I just bought a pellet stove, it will also burn corn!!!

[nytemare]

7. I suppose he can't regulate profits.

Really, as President, all it would take is an executive order. I was reading an article that said oil would have to be 100 dollars a barrell for gas to be $3 a gallon. It is 65 dollars a barrel now, and gasoline edged up to about 2.90 where I live.

I imagine the same will happen with heating oil.

[TX-RAT]

11. The refinery pays 1.50 per gallon

Then whole sales for 2.05 to 2.10.

Their not making as much as i thought.

[OKthatsIT]

13. give me a link on that

I think your numbers are wrong. $63 a barrel is what the refineries pay,,,are you saying they have an additional $1 per gallon cost?

Nahhh...doesnt sound right at all.

[nytemare]

14. I think the wholesale cost on fuel is 2.15.

I believe somewhere I read that in general, the public would pay a certain amount over the wholesale cost. I thought I heard it was about 50 cents. Someone is raking in a little more dough than they should be.

I wish I could find the article I read.

[TX-RAT]

15. 63 dollars a barrel / 42 gallons per barrel. What parts wrong?

The wholesale price may vary a little, say 2,04-2.15 per gallon.

Where am i wrong? Thats a pretty standard markup in most business's

[Javaman]

16. Do what ever it takes, huh? How about a real energy policy???

How about laws to back up your conservation pledge and teeth to inforce them? How about finding an alternative energy source or fuel source? How about telling the fucking oil companies that they must use some of their record profits to fund new development in hydrogen?

Baaaaa, just more bullshit. what a wast of space and air consumption he* is...

colossal racist failure*.