The Wall Street Journal-20080111-Politics - Economics- Call to Tap Oil Reserve Is Rebuffed
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Politics & Economics: Call to Tap Oil Reserve Is Rebuffed
WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman rebuffed calls from Congress to release heating oil from the Northeast heating-oil reserve, saying it would be an "unnecessary market intervention" and leave the region "vulnerable to a true supply shortage" this winter.
Mr. Bodman made his remarks in a Jan. 7 letter to Rep. Ed Markey (D., Mass). The lawmaker made the letter public yesterday, amid reports that home heating-oil prices in the Northeast U.S. had reached records.
"Prematurely releasing heating oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve would not only be an unnecessary market intervention but would also leave the Northeast vulnerable to a true supply shortage this winter," Mr. Bodman wrote.
He said the strain posed by high heating-oil prices is best addressed through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
A group of home-heating-oil dealers yesterday called on President Bush to release $586 million in funding set aside under the program to help low-income and elderly Americans stay warm this winter.
Shane Sweet, the chief executive of New England Fuel Assistance, said in a statement that the extra money was necessary because in many states recipients under the program have already exhausted the basic benefits.
Residential heating-oil prices in the Northeast, the world's largest heating-oil market, averaged a record $3.43 a gallon in the week ended Jan. 7, according to the Energy Department, up 43% from a year earlier, and the most in any week.
