Despite his oft-repeated opposition to the measure, President Bush has signed into law legislation (HR 6022) temporarily suspending deliveries of crude oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in an attempt to ease gasoline prices. The new law will suspend SPR shipments until either the end of the year or when crude oil prices dip below $75/bbl.

The president’s action came only days after Congress overwhelmingly passed the bill (see Daily GPI, May 14). The strong support from both sides of the aisle to suspend SPR shipments was a significant departure for Republicans, who in the past have opposed discontinuing SPR shipments to help relieve gasoline prices. Democrats, on the other hand, have traditionally believed that suspending SPR shipments would ease prices in the market.

Temporarily discontinuing SPR deliveries will make 70,000 b/d available to the market, which Republicans last week called a mere drop in the bucket that would have little impact on gasoline prices.

U.S. crude oil futures Wednesday climbed to a record high of $132.08/bbl.

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