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| AFP File image |
Amy Harder
National Journal
HOUSTON — A former top OPEC executive said on Monday that President Obama should tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
“It will be a wise decision because it supplements the decision of the Saudis to put into the market almost the entire amount of [oil from] Libya,” said Rene Ortiz, who was inspector general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries from 1979 to 1981.
His comments came after the opening dinner of the 30th annual Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference, hosted by IHS CERA Chairman Daniel Yergin.
Ortiz’s comments put him at odds with Yergin and aligned with Democratic lawmakers like Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who have been calling on Obama to tap into the SPR amid continued Middle East unrest. The reserve stockpile is at capacity with 727 million barrels of oil.
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