Chuck Schumer: “Yesterday, crude prices closed just below $32 per barrel--the highest price since a brief spike during the Persian Gulf…”

“Yesterday, crude prices closed just below $32 per barrel--the highest price since a brief spike during the Persian Gulf War. At this level, it is very likely that gas prices will reach $2 per gallon by Memorial Day. The price of oil has reached a point where it is no longer a nuisance, but a crisis for our economy. We have called on the President and the Secretary of Energy to release some of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) in order to bring this price spike under control. And today, we are introducing a concurrent resolution to again request that the Administration use the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to bolster our rapidly dwindling oil inventories, stabilize prices, and to convince OPEC that America is ready to use leverage to protect our national economic interests. During the past two weeks, Secretary Richardson has met with OPEC ministers to encourage them to increase production. They discussed a 1 million barrel per day increase, but according to experts, that will still not be sufficient to meet America's demand.”