US President Bill Clinton ordered the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's emergency reserves to head off shortages as crude prices soar.
Clinton decided on Friday to tap the strategic petroleum reserve with winter looming and amid fears of price hikes and shortages of vital heating oil, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said.
“We need to make sure that American families keep warm this winter and get their heating,” Richardson said in a news conference, adding that heating oil stocks were seriously depleted.
Richardson denied that the decision to tap into the strategic reserve starting Monday was a political decision to help Vice President Al Gore, the democratic candidate, less that seven weeks before November presidential elections.
Richardson insisted that the decision had everything to do with maintaining critical supplies, and nothing to do with manipulating prices.
“We have extremely low home heating oil stocks, low crude
oil stocks for the winter, especially in the northeast area,” He said.
And the reason that we are doing this is not for price, but to deal with disruption, to deal with the problems of extreme shortages.
Gore has strongly urged the White House to tap into the strategic reserve and has been denounced for playing election politics with the oil crisis.
