A gallon of regular unleaded is averaging about $3.50, according to the latest price survey released yesterday from the American Automobile Association, the highest since October 2008, when prices were coming off a historic peak of more than $4.
However, not all is bad news as according to the Wall Street Journal, Light sweet crude oil futures for April declined 61 cents to $104.83 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Asian trading hours on Tuesday. The slight retreat came amid a report in the Financial Times newspaper that Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria may join Saudi Arabia in increasing output to make up for a drop-off in Libyan oil, as fighting continues to grip that country.
Some Democratic lawmakers say yes, and assert that now is the time for the United States to dip into its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is brimming with 727 million barrels of crude. Democrats said in a letter sent to President Obama on Monday. They called the reserve “the only tool we possess which can counter supply disruptions and combat crippling price spikes in the short term” according to the Washington Post.
Many economists and policy makers caution against using the reserve simply to lower prices. Administration officials have been monitoring moves by Saudi Arabia, which has said it would boost output. In addition, because most Libyan exports went directly to Europe, the IEA could order releases of the minimum stockpiles it requires private companies in Europe to maintain in case of emergency.
The Obama Administration has yet to fully release any details on the future of the US oil reserve, yet according to analysts from Market Place it seems unlikely that the administration will move to sell any part of the reserve as countries such as Saudi Arabia may move into to make up for Libya‘s drop in oil exports.
(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com