Mishawaka, IN—Today, Congressman Joe Donnelly visited a Marathon Gas Station on Grape Road to discuss his request that President Bush temporarily suspend the additional purchase of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to immediately reduce the price of gasoline for American drivers. Yesterday, Donnelly sent a letter to the president urging action as the price of oil nears $120 per barrel.

 “Rising fuel costs are an issue of great concern to Americans all over the country,” Donnelly said. “The president can and must take action now to provide some relief. Too many Hoosiers are struggling to make ends meet in these tough economic times, and families on a budget cannot keep paying over $3.60 per gallon at the pump.”

 The SPR was established in the aftermath of the 1970s oil shortages to be our nation’s backstop in future energy crises.  Currently, the SPR is at 96 percent capacity, back to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels, and, with inflation taken into consideration, prices for oil today are higher than the 1970s records.

Further, independent industry estimates suggest that prices at the pump could be reduced by twenty-five cents per gallon solely through the act of temporarily suspending the additional purchase of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

 “Purchasing oil at these record prices for the purpose of storing it makes no sense, and only exacerbates high prices by taking critical oil supply off the market… I respectfully urge you to direct the Department of Energy to immediately release 20 million barrels of oil from the SPR to the market and to temporarily suspend the purchase of oil for the SPR.” Donnelly wrote in his letter.

 The Congressional Budget Office has determined that for every $10 decrease in the price of a barrel of oil there is a $50 billion stimulative effect on the U.S. economy. 

 To read a copy of Donnelly’s letter, click here.

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