Frank Verrastro, director of the CSIS Energy and National Security Program, was quoted by Reuters, "U.S. Gov't has no Pla

Despite record crude oil prices above $100 a barrel, the U.S. Energy Department told Congress on Tuesday it had no plans to stop adding about 70,000 barrels per day of oil to America's emergency oil stockpile.Katharine Fredriksen, who heads the department's Office of Policy and International Affairs, told the Senate Energy Committee that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve should reach a record 700.7 million barrels of oil by the end of March.[...]

Frank Verrastro, energy expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Bush administration's withdrawal of oil from a tight market encourages and emboldens traders and speculators to talk up oil prices without fear of reprisal.

He said the administration's insistence on continuing to fill the SPR "severely undermined" U.S. appeals for OPEC to ramp up oil output.

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