Bingaman: No need to tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said there is no need for President Obama to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, because global supplies are adequate.

Bingaman in early March had said that the crisis in Libya and other market dislocations should prompt the White House to consider tapping the 727-million barrel reserve, noting the U.S. was facing a supply disruption that could worsen.

But in a C-SPAN interview broadcast over the weekend, Bingaman said using the stockpile is not needed — at least for now. “In the short term the time has passed when we should be seriously considering using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” he said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program.

“There was a disruption in supply when the turmoil began there in Libya ... There is still a disruption in supply there, but I don’t see it worsening and it is pretty clear there is no shortage of oil worldwide,” Bingaman said.

Oil prices have risen sharply this year, but backed off the high of almost $114 per barrel reached over two weeks ago. Oil is currently trading at around $98 per barrel.