Proposal To Release Oil From U.S. Reserve Fails In House

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - House Democrats failed to get enough votes on Thursday to permit the government to release oil from the nation's stockpile, which Democrats believe will stem rising oil prices.

Congress voted 265-157, or short of the two-thirds majority required to pass a bill allowing the Energy Department to release 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Democrats had proposed selling the light, sweet crude oil from the stockpile to energy companies in exchange for heavy, sour crude oil.

All Democrats present voted for the bill; 157 Republicans opposed it.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has been pushing the White House to release oil from the reserve since early this month, citing instances during the terms of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton when oil from the stockpile was released. The government allowed a drawdown of 17 million barrels before the Gulf War in January 1991 and of 30 million barrels in 2000.

The SPR is currently 97 percent full with 702 million barrels of oil. The U.S. consumes 20 million barrels daily.

President George W. Bush says rising energy costs can only be solved by ending the moratorium on offshore oil drilling. He said in a press conference last week that the SPR would be used only in emergencies.

Pelosi had argued in a speech on the floor before the vote on Thursday, "In the past, releasing oil from the SPR has lowered gas prices within two weeks... This is good for the American taxpayer: by exchanging light crude oil for the less expensive heavy crude, this legislation will potentially raise over $840 million in revenues."

But House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called the measure "irresponsible" and a "little more than a three-and-a-half day 'solution' to a year-round problem for American families and small businesses."