American Trucking Associations has urged the Obama administration to open up opportunities for domestic oil production as a way to lessen the impact of political tumult in the Middle East.
“Recent events in Egypt and Libya have highlighted how fragile the global oil market it, putting our industry at risk for rapid price spikes, even as we slowly begin to roll to an economic recovery,” ATA President Bill Graves said.
“Fuel is our members’ second largest expense, so uncontrollable spikes cut right at their bottom line,” Graves said in a statement.
Trucking uses more than 34 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually, according to ATA estimates.
Crude oil closed over $100 a barrel Wednesday for the first time in almost two and half years.
At an Interior Department hearing last week, an ATA attorney testified that while trucking is testing alternative fuels, for the foreseeable future the industry will be dependent upon petroleum-based diesel fuel.
ATA’s regulatory affairs counsel Rich Moskowitz said Interior’s next five-year plan for off-shore oil and gas exploration should allow more activity on the outer continental shelf.
Editor’s note: See this week’s related editorial, Middle East Unrest and Fuel Prices.
