Gas nozzle used pump petrol station in New York 22 February, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Shannon StapletonBy and David Alexander Alister BullWASHINGTON | Wed May 26, 2011 8: 53 pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters)-President Barack Obama on Tuesday called on oil producers to lift world crude output, such as attempted to deflect public anger over high gasoline prices that have hurt his popularity among voters.
U.s. fuel prices have become a heated political issue after pushing toward $ 4 gallon. Gasoline futures hit 33-month highs on Tuesday.
Rising prices at the pump and stoked voter discontent with the leadership of Obama, polls show, and could harm the chances of re-election in 2012.
"We must increase the commissions," Obama told CBS affiliate WTKR in Hampton Roads, Virginia. "We are in a great many talks with oil producers such as Saudi Arabia," he said separately in Detroit WXYZ-TV.
Asking producers to pump more crude oil periods of high prices were a strategy that is also used by the administrations of former Presidents George w. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Obama, in order to thus far had focused on efforts to reduce demand for oil, but made it clear in his comments on Tuesday that the increase in output was also part of the solution.
"This is the first time that the Obama administration, but has done so, but not because of course that played any new strategy in an effort to combat high oil prices," said Tim Evans, energy analyst at Citi Futures perspective in New York.
"It is because it is the first time they've seen a 30 percent jump in oil prices a few months."
Repeated concern that may trigger higher prices for energy traders, top Obama administration official enforcement legislation, Attorney General Eric Holder, told reporters he saw "disturbing" things in the energy markets.
He said that justified the creation of a task force unveiled last week to detect possible fraud and manipulation of gasoline prices.
Earlier Tuesday, the President sent a letter to Congress urging to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies.
In the letter, Obama hailed what he called bipartisan support for ending the tax breaks.
But Republicans, who feel rising gas prices could help Obama win the election in 2012, said the approach would "increase taxes and provide pump."
This opening marks opposition on Monday refuted by the top Republican in the House of representatives, speaker John Boehner [ID: nN25223852], which indicated their willingness to consider the subsidies received by the oil and gas companies.
Put somewhat at odds with his party's longstanding support for the energy industry, but on Tuesday his remarks about Obama's energy policies had enabled much more critical.
CAPTURE LIMIT TUBES
Indicating that the scepticism of draft was something other than a political tactic, energy analysts said there was no quick fix for the problem of high gasoline prices.
"Obama has said no, there is no silver bullet to push down the prices of petrol, in the short term, but now it seems he's grasping at straws in accordance with the last two days to find policies to do the trick," said Matt Smith at Summit energy in Kentucky.
A poll Washington Post-ABC News Tuesday found that 71% of respondents said gasoline prices cause serious economic difficulties, while 55 percent disapproved of the way Obama is handling his job as President.
The proposals of the White House rejected Obama's letter was designed to deflect anger over the price of gas away from the President and to oil companies, which has pointed out repeatedly made huge profits, and still continue to enjoy tax subsidies.
"Don't look at this as a matter of electoral politics in 18 months," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
Obama, repeating a line he has developed several times in the two annual budget proposals, said more than 4 billion dollars saved by closing oil industry tax breaks could be invested in clean energy will help to ease the dependence on the US foreign oil.
(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Timothy Gardner and Jeremy Pelofsky. Editing, Laura MacInnis and Philip Barbara)
No comments:
Post a Comment