The Wonk Room

A Sale Of Oil From The SPR Led To ‘Relief At The Pump’

The Washington Post published an editorial today slamming a proposal to swap a slight amount of oil from the government’s oil reserves to moderate prices and offer relief to American families. They write:

Mr. Obama would swap more-expensive light crude held there for cheaper heavy crude “with the goal of bringing down prices at the pump.” President Bill Clinton did such a swap in September 2000 — yes, just before another presidential election — and President Bush released oil in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Both moves led to drops in the spot price of crude but not the sort of relief at the pump that Mr. Obama promises.

This seems to imply that lower crude prices didn’t lead to lower prices at the pump for families. But that’s just not the case.

In 2005, when President Bush announced a sale from the SPR in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, American families saved approximately $125 in lower gas prices over the next three months.

Read the full report from the Center for American Progress Action Fund here.