Washington, March 08: In the United States, high gas prices at the pump have made President Barack Obama’s administration consider tapping into the nation’s oil reserves to prevent an economic slowdown.
Experts say the administration’s move will only be made in cases of extreme emergency such as scarcity and it will not affect every day high fuel prices at the pump, a Media correspondent in Washington reported on Tuesday.
Despite the current unrest in oil-rich countries in the Middle East and North Africa, which has somewhat affected the volatility of the oil market, energy analysts believe that the surge in gas prices has already taken place in the United States and prices may climb even higher.
“The problem is we simply consume much more oil than we produce at home. And in terms of gasoline, a huge proportion — almost seventy percent — is imported. So, this is the real dilemma we have. We cannot do anything to change this overnight,” says Charles Ebinger, the director of the Energy Security Initiative at the Brookings Institute.
American drivers do not seem to be getting used to the high gas prices, which have affected everything from private to public transit for more than two years now.
“I think it is ridiculous. One week, it is $2.30 or $3.38, and it goes up. I mean it has gone up for at least 40 cents since last week,” a commuter to Washington told the Media correspondent.
The United States last took oil from its reserves in 2005 in the weeks following Hurricane Katrina — one of the deadliest disasters in the nation, which claimed at least 1,836 lives.
——-Agencies