WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration will release oil from federal petroleum reserves to help refiners affected by Hurricane Katrina, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday.
The move, which was expected later in the day, is designed to give refineries a temporary supply of crude oil to take the place of interrupted shipments from tankers or offshore oil platforms affected by the decision involving the release of supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Eight refineries were shut down due to Katrina -- half of them producing gasoline.
The government's emergency petroleum stockpile -- nearly 700 million barrels of oil stored in underground salt caverns along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast -- was established to cushion oil markets during energy disruptions.
The production and distribution of oil and gas remained severely disrupted by the shutdown of a key oil import terminal off the coast of Louisiana and by the Gulf region's widespread loss of electricity, which is needed to power pipelines and refineries.
The Environmental Protection Agency, seeking to avert a severe supply crunch, announced it would temporarily allow the sale of higher-polluting gasoline in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi because those states can't provide enough fuel to consumers that meets Clean Air Act requirements.
The agency also said those states will be allowed to use motor vehicle diesel fuel with a sulfur content higher than the 500 parts per million standard for the next two weeks through ozone season.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. must be having a fit.
What will the headlines be?
BUSH ADMINISTRATION RESPONDS TO CRISIS
or
BUSH DESTROYS ENVIRONMENT
If you're complaining about high gas prices today, just be thankful that you have a car and a garage and a home.
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