The Bush administration announced it has decided to exercise its authority to auction off the statutory limit of five million barrels of oil a month from the nation`s 590-million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve. . . . The world`s nations use tens of millions of barrels of oil every day, so an extra five million monthly from our SPR-or even 15 million barrels, the proposed new ceiling being discussed-is far too small an amount to have a significant impact on world oil markets.
Besides, although prices have jumped . . . since Iraq`s invasion of Kuwait two months ago, this increase has been due to anticipated rather than actual shortages. The embargo on Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil has diminished world supplies by about 120 million barrels monthly, but two-thirds of that shortfall has already been made up. . . .
Then why begin drawing oil from the SPR? Secretary of Energy James Watkins told Congress that the main objective is to test the process involved in deploying the strategic reserve system, which was created in 1975 but has never been used. Obviously, it is better to make repairs now than wait until we are in the midst of a real emergency. . . .
The strategic reserve is exactly what its name suggests: A repository that would serve as an indispensable source of oil when an extreme emergency leaves us with no reasonable alternative. It is not a mere convenience.