Crude Sets Record Near $128; DOE Suspends SPR Shipments
Oil prices reached a new record Friday near $128 a barrel and the Department of Energy said it would suspend shipments to nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Associated Press reported.
Light, sweet crude futures jumped $2.17 to settle at record closing price of $126.29 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier reaching an overall record of $127.82 in intraday trading, AP said.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration, responding to Congressional pressure, said Friday said it was suspending deliveries to the SPR for the rest of the year, AP reported.
The move came just days after both the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed legislation requiring DOE to temporarily halt shipments to the SPR, in hopes of lowering fuel prices. President Bush is expected to sign the bill into law, AP said.
DOE said it will not sign six-month contracts schedule to have begun starting July 1, for 76,000 barrels of oil a day the SPR takes in, AP reported.
DOE also plans to defer deliveries under existing contracts once the legislation passed by Congress late Wednesday becomes law, AP said.
The move came as President Bush, visiting Saudi Arabia, sought to get the Saudis to pump more oil. Saudi Arabia announced it will increase production by 300,000 barrels a day in response to customer requests, although it also told U.S. officials it believes world supplies are sufficient to meet demand, AP reported.
