And where does that oil from the SPR come from? Drilling. So why not just open up more areas for drilling, drill what we have, etc… But Dems hate to admit that more drilling is the answer.

Your article has it wrong. Obama supports swapping heavy for light crude oil, which is currently in the reserves. There is a big difference between tapping, which implies drawing down, and swapping one oil for another.

[...] is announcing his own comprehensive plan today with a wide range of potential solutions to the nation’s energy crisis but don’t expect [...]

Tapping the reserve does a couple of things… first, it’s a really, really short term fix if at all. The Commoditities knows it’s a temporary dump on the market to depress prices artificially, so generally they ignore it as anything but a politician trying to buy votes with placedos. Second, and this is probably more important, they know that oil has to be replaced sooner or later, so the price drop is usually minor, and offset fairly quickly but not only a rise to cover the minor blip, but a further increase as the government buys more oil to replace it in the reserve. And they have to eventually, since it’s there not to allow candidates to making more depressions in the market, but to supply the US in the event of another oil embargo. To make a lasting impact on the market, you need to increase supply and crack open the oil bottle neck, while reducing demand domestically. This is basic economics, kind of thing they teach you in good High Schools your senior year or in your freshman year at college. I would expect a Harvard Grad to know this.

yet another poll sniffing flip-flop by Obama.

Also, the strategic reserve is oil we already have. Tapping into it does nothing to solve the problem of getting oil we are going to need in the future. This is simply a continuation of the politics of style over substance. No solution is offered for energy problems, but you will feel good because the price of gas will go down for a week or two.

Does anyone know what this little piece of doublespeak actually means?

“There’s little functional difference right now to our economy between the rapid run up of energy prices we’ve experienced as a result of international conditions and market speculation on the one hand versus a supply interruption on the other.”

I have an idea, blame. Blame the evil market speculators and international conditions for a problem that our congress has created. Then they get to “save ” us from the problem they created.

The reserve should not be tapped unless there is an actual emergency. Also we should not drill in ecologically sensitive areas not just for the enviroment (although that is a good reason) but also because once we have drained that oil we will have no other choice, but to use foreign oil. Our meager domestic oil reserves should be used only in an emergency. And folks, this aint an emergency. Having these gas prices is difficult and unpleasant and it burdens our economy, but this is nothing compared to what lies ahead.

I hate to say it, but there is some good in the high prices. It helps to gradually reduce our dependance on oil. People have started to buy small cars and think about our energy policy. I still see people driving their SUVs on the highway at 80 miles per hour. If we take the easy way out and drill, drill, drill people will carry as they were before and then when the oil runs out and gas is $8-10 a gallon, and foreign governments in the Middle East make all the decisions, we will have nothing. Please, think about the future, not just tonight’s rush hour.

The article did get it wrong (or did not give us the details), but Fox News achieved their goal of misleading the public on Obama’s stance. The article also implied, without anything to back it up, that a “gas-tax holiday” is a short-term fix the same as halting SPR input. Nice move, Fox. Cloud the issue, then say that Obama criticized it.

This Fox News articel is delibrilty misleading, of course what would you exspect from a news source thats gets its talking points directly from the White House… Obama does not support ‘Tapping” the oil reserves, he suporrts switching out the lighter crude we have stored and replacing it with heavier crude which is more benificial for the US to store anyhow.
Also it’s nice to see Fox has allowed thier comment boards to become active again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2jQENzth0s

[...] Fox News reports that an Obama energy advisor told reporters that Barack Obama thinks the U.S. should tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate high gas prices. [...]

Ok let tap the oil reserve and we can have more oil on the market and the price goes down? another obama economic plan? I insist DRILL , DRILL , DRILL and we can have more and more oil on the market. (Don’t forget check your tire pressure another smart economic plan from obama and his team)

When will Obama’s tranparent pandering end? Today, pre-election, I laugh at most of his silly, preposterous campaign “ideas.” But I shudder to think what’s in store for our nation if this putz is actually elected. May God help us if that’s what happens.

How much are we going to save by tapping the reserve? Has he told us that? We use 20 million barrels a day. The reserve holds 700 million barrels or a 30 day supply. It would be better if we had a holiday on the fedral taxes. That would help us more than the few cents a gallon we would get from dipping into the reserve. Plus with hurricane season and a current storm heading for the Gulf, now is not the time to drain the reserve. We may need that oil if the refineries get damaged by a storm.

If you want lower gas prices Boot All the Greedy Politicians OUT! Impeach Bush & Cheney, their too blame for the War in Iraq and pretty much everything else that has HURT OUR COUNTRY! In my Opinion their All to Blame!

Comment by Bill
August 4th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Your article has it wrong. Obama supports swapping heavy for light crude oil, which is currently in the reserves. There is a big difference between tapping, which implies drawing down, and swapping one oil for another.

You are wrong. We don’t have heavy crude oil in Strategic Reserve. It’s call light (sweet) oil. Don’t talk out of your a***, please.

Both candidates have changed their position on some of the issues. Get over it and stop accussing the candidate you don’t like a flip-floper.

He talks out of his a$$.

It’s call Strategic Reserve for a reason, Leave it alone. It’s like spending all your savings and then loosing your job. Don’t let this happen on national level.
Just because gas is $4.00 p/g doesn’t mean it’s national emergency and we should start spending all our savings.
Start drilling! Gas will go down as soon as you start drilling, don’t have to wait till you actually get some. If Clinton didn’t veto 10 ears ago same proposal we would have that oil already. Don’t delay for another 10 years, by saying it will take 10 years to get that oil.

Thought people wanted oil and Obama want to give you some, right here right now, but because Obama came out with it it is just wrong, you guys will rather wait 10 years to get any more local oil..

Oh btw. you people really think if we drill that any of that oil will stay in America ?? well guess what suckers it wont, it will be sold to highest bidder, China…

That’s even more stupid than McCain’s gas tax holiday. Everybody knows what needs to be done besides the people that have the power to actually do something. We’re all doomed.

The man is literally handing the GOP firing squad the ammunition for his own political execution. It would be one thing if he flip-flopped from a bad idea to a good one but in this case and others he flip flops out of the frying pan into the fire. Pretty amazing to think he sees his fading chances for the Presidency the same as a national emergency.

I dont agree with tapping into what is an emergency reserve, what if we have a natural catastrophy, what if we are once again attacked God forbid, leave it alone, you dont use your own emergency supplies just cause you feel like it

Democtatic congress+democratic president/obama=DISASTER for Americans. Obama laughed at the idea of tax relief at the pumps. Maybe because you are buying his gas or because he has MILLIONS. Can’t people see this guy is playing us! All he want’s are the keys to the White House so he,rev. wright , his wife and kids can make HISTORY. As an african American I do not feel he has the American people’s best intrest at heart. I vote NO, to obama.

The strategic reserve is just that: strategic. Mucking with it because someone can’t afford to fill up their monster SUV is short-sighted at best and certainly will have very little impact overall. In fact, the only impact hoped for is in Obama’s falling poll numbers.

Increased domestic production is essential as a stopgap to get alternatives (including nuclear) in place. The Dems controlling Congress- including Obama- have insisted on doing nothing along those lines.

Flip flop by Obama ? Sorry we all know this was a big flip flop for MCCain. Do not think we are ignorant like you! McCain has big interest in oil companys so do not say anythig about Obama. At least he is trying to help us not like McCAin he has money. He calls us whinners! What is happening in the country is mental! I can tell that all that favor McCain do not feel no pain at the oil pump.

Were our gas prices lower just a few short weeks ago when Obama was against tapping the Strategic Petrolium Reserve? Of course not. He is just pandering to liberal left once again. If we tap it now, we will have nothing when there is a real emergency. Obama states that off shore drilling will do nothing for our gas prices for at least ten years. Wrong…it will show confidence that we are working towards independence of foreign (terrorist) oil.

Our country needs to declare a “state of emergency” and halt all discretionary spending. Use those funds to jump start all energy technologies…including nuclear power, domestic drilling, clean coal, wind, solar, etc… Do we really need another Corn Museum?

The reserve is there to protect the country in the instance of a catastrophic occurrence that would adversly effect the countries oil needs, to give the country time to divert Alaskan oil (which the majority of is currently exported) into the domestic system for processing. What part of the word “reserve” does he not understand? The reserve is there for emergency purposes, not to lower the price of gas is starting to COME DOWN as a result of changes in the market. His suggestion to “swap heavy for light” justs add one more idiotic statement to his litany of ” its what the people want to hear” when it comes to the difficulties facing this great nation. History reflects that when the Empress of France, Marie Antoinette, was asked what she was going to do as the people had no bread to eat, she simply stated “well, let them eat cake”. Her response showed a not-being-able-to-see-the-forest-for-the-trees rationale regarding the issue at hand. Mr. Obama shows the same rationale on a myriad of issues. His “judgement” comes not from knowledge, or at the very least experience, but from his quest to do and/or say whatever it takes him to get elected. Oh yeh, Obamaniks, he still has to be crowned, oop, excuse me, I meant elected……

I can only hope that our divided, distracted, diverted populace does something other than
electing one of the corporate shills running, we’ve had 200 years to have a representative
government, and still have a corporate power structure that has run us into the ditch YET
AGAIN! Lets do something different this time,
Vote Sanity, Vote Nader.

WHEN FOX NEWS SAYS IT IS BALANCED[HA HA]WHEN BO IS ON HE TALKS AND TALKS,WHEN MCCAN IS ON ON HE OPENS HIS MOUTH AND YOU FOX NEWS GOES TO A COMERCIAL.I HAVE NOTICE THIS MORE AND MORE.BACK I GO TO CNN.

IS FOX NEWS NOW SUPPORTING BO,HE IS ON NOW MORE THAN THE COMERICALS,WOW???WHAT IS IT WHEN BO TALKS WE HAVE TO LISTEN,WHEN MCCAN TALKS YOU GO TO THE COMERICALS.I WILL ALSO GO BACK TO CNN

Oil in reserve does not come from drilling. It is the oil we bought from middle east and poured down a hole.

It should have been released two weeks ago when oil price was close to $150. That oil was purchased for $18 to $130. Now sell them at $150 and make some money.

Ironic that on the same day Obama says he wants to tap into the Strategic Oil Reserve, Iran boasts of being able to close the Strait of Hormuz, where much of the world’s oil supply goes through. Obama obviously doesn’t understand the meaning of “Strategic” (merely WORDS I suppose).

Kinda reminds me of Al Gore giving Global Warming speeches during blizzards.

Wow, Obama has no principles. He will not only throw people under the unity bus, he will throw the policies and positions held dear by his electoral base (environmentalists). I mean, what will this man NOT do to pander for votes? What will he NOT do to get elected? Frankly, I don’t want to find out.

If Obama’s Energy Policy doesn’t scare you maybe S2433 will, research it yourself. Obama wants to give $840+ Billion Dollars of US tax Payer money to the UN to fight poverty world wide. I for one don’t need look too far; I can see Poverty on my own street. Maybe that 840 Billion can be better spent her in America.

Hmmmm….lets see…… trade heavy (regardless of where it comes from) for light. Heavy crude is more costly to refine than light into any product. To the best of my knowledge you have to ” retool” to refine heavy from light (or vice versa) so which light refiners are going to want to invest the geedas to make the switch UNLESS you are getting the heavy for a super low price and can charge a super high price for the light. Thihs would make the retool cost minimal, me thinks. Can we spell market manipulation, maybe??????? Or maybe its “so what if its not right, its what they want to hear. I can always change later” And then theres another, and thats not being able to tell the forest from the trees. Open mouth, change feet….duh.

The problem with commenting on Obama’s positions is that the positions change before your comment gets published. Today, alone, I am reading stories that Obama is for and against offshore drilling, for and against tapping the strategic oil reserve etc. Now Obama wants delegates from Florida and Michigan seated with full voting rights at his coronation/convention. My,my,my…isn’t this the same Obama who wanted these delegates “not counted” because Fla. and Mich. “did not play by the rules”? I guess the little opportunist is real big on voting rights just as long as the rights of the public do not interfere with his personal career goals. How long will even the most strident Democrat continue to make excuses for this ambitious little “empty shirt”?

To Bill: Obama supports any position that will get him elected. The parsing words over “Tapping Vs swapping” is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Everyone knows the difference in swapping and drawing down (taking). We have those reserves for a reason, and they are called “Strategic” for a reason. When you remove food stuff from your pantry, do you not have to replace it?

It’s simple, if you can remove the partisan politics and get out of bed with the environmental extremists: We need to drill and build new refineries 30 years ago. And yes, we need to develop all new alternative energy resources too. If you stick with the Democrats’ plans, we will revert to 3rd. world conditions and complete dependence on politicians. The very people who have created this mess.

Thanks to the new Democrat Congress, the value of the dollar has dropped to dangerous levels. This dollar today buys a lot less in every market. This is also the weak dollar that oil suppliers, developers, and those “evil, big oil companies” are being paid with.

The next time you hear about rising profits of big oil, remember, the dollars that they are getting are worth a whole lot less. Oh, but that would make it a non news worthy story. We need to drill and we need to throw a lot of the Congress out on their butts.

When is everyone going to wake up? It doesn’t matter which knucklehead we put in the oval office…Congress makes the laws that rip us off on a daily basis. If we just concentrated on voting out incumbent members of Congress, we’d have an entirely new (and hopefully more responsive) government in just 6 short years.

Amen

Is this for real?
One day he is against drilling and tapping the reserves. Now he is for the drilling and tapping the reserve, just as soon as his poll number were down to be dead even with McCain?
New kind of politics? I think he is practicing the most sleaziest form of politics. If he changed his mind, come out and says so, instead of always saying stuff like -I never said… or -what I meant… And then he’ll go blame the rest of us for not “listening to him”. Oh, okay.

Note to Iran: Just hold your horses and pretty soon you will have a way to cripple the US economy. Sen. Obama has said he wants to release the Strategic Oil Reserve and that will leave us vulnerable.
Note to America: Sen. Obama does not appear to have considered the consequences of his proposal. Sen. Obama wants to end our dependence on oil- has he thought of all the uses that oil is used for. Does he also intend to stop those.
Note to Media: AN article on all the things in our everyday life that is dependent on oil. It is more than just gas for your car.

Chris asked what Ms. Zichal’s little piece of doublespeak means. I know exactly what it means: “McCain has pulled even with Obama in the polls, because our conservation-based approach to the energy issue isn’t selling. We had better change our tune before we lose the election.”

How’s that?

[...] is announcing his own comprehensive plan today with a wide range of potential solutions to the nation’s energy crisis but don’t expect that to [...]

Is this guy BO just a moron or what?

Artificial intelligence is no substitute for natural stupidity.

The chameleon puppet continues to confuse his alimentary orifice with a snake hole.

Like always the write the article wrong to have people attack each other. That is press to you. People look at Obama”s New Energy speech and get facts right. Do NOt listen to McCain he has lost it. can’t even answer a question in less than three minutes. Imagen him as a leader and everyoune wiating on what he is to say. Crossing their fingers hhoping its the correct answer. OBAMA for PRESIDENT.

I agree with EC, that a democratic Congress and President would be a disaster for gas prices. Already the Dems in Congress won’t agree to off-shore drilling, even in ANWR where nobody lives!! The caribou don’t mind if we drill!!

Everybody, regardless of their party affiliation, needs to call Nancy Pelosi’s office (202-225-0100)and demand that we DRILL NOW!! Congress should have resolved this issue before they left on vacation. The voice of the people should demand drilling now!! Congress must get this message. They are supposed to represent the people, so if you care, make your voices heard!

Using our reserves is not an energy plan. Neither is having the correct air pressure in our tires.
Of course drilling is not the only answer, but it will help lower prices now and in the future. We need to move forward with producing all forms of energy and stop being consumers and start producing energy. That is what made America strong.

The SPR is 98% full, with over 700 million barrels of oil. To get a perspective, if we were to release 500,000 barrels a day for three months, the SPR would still be over 90% full. The SPR was never meant to be solely a protection against terrorist attacks, but rather, a more general policy to address supply or demand shocks. If the rapid rise of oil these past couple of months doesn’t qualify, then I really don’t know what would. The release of oil from the SPR would affect prices immediately whereas offshore drilling would not have any foreseeable impact on prices until 2030 (according to the Department of Energy, find the research yourself, I won’t do all the work for you).

Another question to ask is, why are we filling up the SPR when oil prices are sky high arguably because of all the uncertainty surrounding the subprime crisis, conflict in the middle east and general global malaise. Why not release this oil now when prices are so high and refill the SPR later, perhaps in a year, when it would still be about 60% full and prices may have come down. Of course this relies on the assumption that oil prices will retreat from its stratospheric levels, with which you may or may not agree.

I read an article this morning, in Bloomberg.com.

““A market that can’t rally on bullish news is a bear market,” said Tim Evans, an energy analyst for Citi Futures Perspective in New York. “We’re just seeing disappointment that for all of the tropical-storm news, the talk of Iran and Valero’s explosion, all of these bullish stories are not pushing the price higher.”

I will just repeat the important part. “We’re just seeing disappointment…. not pushing the price higher.” No, I did not misunderstand this comment.

That is from an energy analyst. What is wrong with this line thinking!?

What a JOKE B.O. is telling us…

28 days worth of emergency reserve - leaving us with what in the event of an emergency…

B.O. is an empty bag of worthless promises…

Preserve the USA - dump B.O.

FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP
BARAK RUNS UP THE CLOCK

FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP

As I see it, whether it takes 10 yrs or 20 yrs, we need to become less dependant on foreign oil. So FOR YOU DEMOCRATS that only want want the rest of the DEMOCRATS want, pay real close attention to this VERY SIMPLE statement by me!!!

I DO NOT WANT MY 4 YR OLD DAUGHTER TO NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD GAS IN 13 YRS WHEN SHE IS DRIVING, IF WE DO NOT START NOW IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE AN ISSUE IN THE FUTURE!

So quit worrying about now, and worry about BOTH, TODAY AND TOMORROW!!!!!

Morons

This is one of the most stupid comments I have heard. Let’s deplete the reserve so we will become even more vulnerable, and if Iran for whatever reason decides to block the strait, it will be all that much easier to bring America to our knees. Comments like this are absolute proof that Obama cannot be elected without endangering the people of the US.

Leave your hands off the reserve. Maybe you cannot read and absorb. Just start drilling offshore. You and Nancy Pelosi and most of you Democrats should be ashamed. Taking a vacation while people cannot put food on their table. You are so stupid. n Also you will find out that American people are not stupid in the election unless you left wingers try to fix it again.

This reserve is intended for emergency war time needs, this sounds like Obama is getting into the Gimmick Business to me. I think his latest flip flop is a buy out, Obama has been bought by T. Boone Pickens for most likely a very high price.

Tapping the oil reserve is the savior for those poor folks? Please!!! It’s a joke that this is a topic. It goes to prove only Republicans and only smart Democrats are capable of handling this issue. Oil is a worldwide commodity. The price of oil is based on worldwide demand vs. supply. What the hell does a 100,000 barrels mean to a consumption of 87 BILLION!!! Absolutely nothing. It’s a PR trick to fool more down on their luck folks to fall into the cult, known as the Democratic Party. Barack just proved to me he is all smoke and mirrors, and no real substance. Which unfortunately means he’s electable…

[...] one week ago Barack Obama was against the very idea of dipping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserves. It is obvious that Obama’s latest flip flop [...]

gee, so what he said, and I quote:

“We can’t drill our way out of the problems we’re facing,”

….does this mean absolutely nothing now? All it took for gas prices to soar down from their current highs these last two weeks was a word from the president indicating that he would LIKE to drill offshore in ANWR. Suddenly he admits that it is the SUPPLY of oil that just MIGHT be the cause of this problem? A person can’t sit there and say that we can’t “drill our way out of this problem” and then go “Oh, go get some of that extra oil out of the storage unit….looks like we are in a ‘real’ emergency.” Does he really think we are THAT STUPID? If he thought that a bigger oil supply wouldn’t help, then why is tapping into our reserves ANY DIFFERENT FROM DRILLING? Our reserves, even if we used them now, would literally act as a band-aid….helping for just a moment…….while we CONTINUE to SIT on billions of barrels of oil on a PINPOINT piece of land in ANWR (2,000 measly acres out of millions)?? Good grief.

ENEMIES OF AMERICA would like nothing better than for us to have a bunch of inept politicians, like Obama, Pelosi and Reid, pushing us to squander our strategic oil reserves … so that if they close the straights of Hormuz, we wouldn’t have any emergency oil to use. Are these the kind of leaders you want to protect us, and keep America strong? The liberal’s idea of globalization only works when the countries they are pandering to either meet us half way, or abandon their goals to destroy us. In additionl, we don’t even know if the ‘other things’ that are supposed to bring us alternative energy will be cost effective, or even work. However, I agree that we must move forward with development of alternative energy ASAP … but, in the meantime, this entire country runs on oil. And, I’m not just talking about us consumers at the pump, I’m talking about how everything we use, eat, wear, etc. … how it all gets to market, and eventually to us. We have to drill more, if even as a transition until alternate fuels are developed, But, aside from the cost at the pump for consumers, the bigger issue still is our national security. Drilling oil on our own land insures us energy independence, which will stop us from total dependence on countries who don’t like us … and from countries we’ve been sending tens of billions of dollars to every year. We must drill ASAP. The politicians who tell you different are simply placing petty party politics above the prosperity and security of America. Obama’s policies are just one example of what can happen when a bunch of inexperienced, but exuberant followers blindly follow an inexperienced, incompetent charismatic leader, who thinks he’s the second coming, off the cliff. Hunger is not enough of a justification to eat the goose that lays the golden eggs … or, eventually everyone will starve. If Obama, with his socialistic redistribution of wealth scams wins, America will turn into a third world country, with massive company closures and unemployment, within a few years.
Elect a man who truly loves America, and will protect her … elect Senator John McCain in November.

“We can’t drill our way out of the problems we’re facing,” he said, tapping the podium for emphasis. (June 20th, 2008, Fox News)

“Barack Obama thinks the U.S. should tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to alleviate high gas prices..” (August 4th, 2008, Fox News)

Ok, so will someone please explain to me how this works……one day a bigger supply of oil would not help us out of this problem, and the next day, “The campaign today said Obama now believes that the current oil prices constitute the same affect as an emergency.” and he now says that we should tap into our strategic oil reserve. How does this work?? How is pulling more barrels of oil out of our reserve any bit different than DRILLING for the billons of barrels that we have at our disposal at a pinpoint of land (2,000 acres out of millions, to be exact) that we have in ANWR and the thousands of miles of stretches of offshore that we have available to us far beyond the visibility of ANY enviromentalist wacko walking the beaches in ultra-liberal California or Florida…etc. Even if the visual aspect doesn’t play in to their opposing the offshore drilling, for crying out loud, as if Katrina wasn’t enough proof that those rigs are spillproof! The largest, most destructive hurricane that area has possibly EVER seen, and not a drop spilled into the pristine waters off the shores of our southern states. The point is, (going back to my original subject) Obama is ridiculous if he thinks the American people are dumb enough to not catch his ever growing list of flip-flops. They are (his interesting attempts at moving towards the middle), at every turn, becoming more and more blatent and more and more obvious! It is as if he isn’t even trying to cover up the fact that he and his campaign hold (on average) 2-4 different positions on every issue! Obama is trying to bring extremism to this country….and is quickly failing.

Keep your tires filled to the recommended levels, get regular maintenance - save 3-6% on our national petroleum energy costs IMMEDIATELY. (See TIME Magazine.) Follow McCain and drill for oil off-shore - save 1% of national energy costs beginning five or six years from now. Hmmmmm… which do I think is a better way to go? Let me think. Duh…

Why do morons continue to blame Bush and Cheney for everything? Have you ever heard of supply and demand? That is the economic force that drives the “market” and the price of almost everrything on earth. The libs are to pompous to drill in our country and by the way the last refinery built in the US was 1976…..got a clue?