WASHINGTON, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush wants to increase oil supply in the United States in the face of rising world demand and soaring prices, the White House said on Wednesday.
"What the president will do this year is continue to push Congress to work toward expanding domestic production here in the United States in environmentally sensitive ways," said White House press secretary Dana Perino at a regular news briefing.
"We have to figure out a way to increase supply here in the United States, done in environmentally sensitive ways, which we know how to do, so that we can have an increase of supply of oil here, while world demand continues to increase at a really astronomical pace for demand for oil," she said.
While the United States tries to transition its economy to one that can run on renewable and alternative fuels, that's going to take a long time.
So, "what we can look toward is ways that we can increase supply here in the United States," said Perino.
The press secretary made these remarks when asked about oil prices, which soared to 100 dollars a barrel Wednesday for the first time ever amid a view that global demand for oil and petroleum products will continue to outstrip supplies.
She said that President Bush would not tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to drive down soaring prices, unless there was a true emergency.
"Right now we understand that the prices are high and demand is extremely high. What the president would focus on doing is increasing supply," she said.
"The president wants to increase supply," she stressed.
The U.S. SPR was established in December 1975, following the Arab oil embargo, but the first barrels were not delivered until the summer of 1977.
It now holds 695.5 million barrels of oil in inventory to be used in a supply emergency, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Department.
The oil reserve currently has a storage capacity of about 727 million barrels, but Congress has directed the Energy Department to boost the stockpile's size to one billion barrels.
In his State of the Union speech to Congress in January 2007, Bush said that he wants to eventually expand the oil stockpile to 1.5 billion barrels over the next 20 years.
"What the president will do this year is continue to push Congress to work toward expanding domestic production here in the United States in environmentally sensitive ways," said White House press secretary Dana Perino at a regular news briefing.
"We have to figure out a way to increase supply here in the United States, done in environmentally sensitive ways, which we know how to do, so that we can have an increase of supply of oil here, while world demand continues to increase at a really astronomical pace for demand for oil," she said.
While the United States tries to transition its economy to one that can run on renewable and alternative fuels, that's going to take a long time.
So, "what we can look toward is ways that we can increase supply here in the United States," said Perino.
The press secretary made these remarks when asked about oil prices, which soared to 100 dollars a barrel Wednesday for the first time ever amid a view that global demand for oil and petroleum products will continue to outstrip supplies.
She said that President Bush would not tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to drive down soaring prices, unless there was a true emergency.
"Right now we understand that the prices are high and demand is extremely high. What the president would focus on doing is increasing supply," she said.
"The president wants to increase supply," she stressed.
The U.S. SPR was established in December 1975, following the Arab oil embargo, but the first barrels were not delivered until the summer of 1977.
It now holds 695.5 million barrels of oil in inventory to be used in a supply emergency, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Department.
The oil reserve currently has a storage capacity of about 727 million barrels, but Congress has directed the Energy Department to boost the stockpile's size to one billion barrels.
In his State of the Union speech to Congress in January 2007, Bush said that he wants to eventually expand the oil stockpile to 1.5 billion barrels over the next 20 years.
