New Hampshire Senators Judd Gregg and John Sununu have joined their colleagues in writing to President Bush to request that the Energy Department temporarily stop deposits of domestic crude oil into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves to ease record-high gas prices.
Gregg says temporarily halting the deposits will help signal to the markets that the United States is serious about bringing down gas prices.
Sununu says it makes no sense for the federal government to be adding to its record reserves when oil prices are $120 a barrel. He says stopping these purchases would relieve some pressure on both the global demand and the price at the pump.
The reserve was established in 1975 to provide a supply of crude oil during times of severe supply disruptions. Today, the senators write, it contains more than 701 million barrels of oil, exceeding commitments to maintain at least 90 days of oil stocks in reserve.