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Schumer Against Tapping Strategic Oil Reserve

'The SPR is somewhat limited'

February 28, 2012

Sen. Charles Schumer said he is against use of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Tuesday morning on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

KERNEN:  What is the number for the SPR, senator? We had Huntsman saying we should do the SPR $1.08. I was like, $1.08? We didn’t do it at 150, did we?

SCHUMER: No, the SPR is not as good a solution as the Saudi solution for a couple of reasons. First, it’s limited. The Saudis could produce an additional 2.8 million barrels of oil, way on into the future. The SPR is somewhat limited and the SPR works better when there’s an immediate crisis caused by a natural disaster, a Katrina or something like that. It’s something that I would look at if the Saudis absolutely said no, but it’s not close to as good a solution as this.

Despite opposition from some Democrats like Schumer, left-wing think tanks and some House Democrats are urging President Obama to tap into the SPR.

Published under: Oil