U.S. pumping oil into strategic reserve

The federal government has been pumping millions of barrels into its emergency crude reserve -- almost 11 million barrels since the beginning of May. Commercial inventories during the same period declined by 10 million barrels.

Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have made clear they want the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, now at 611 million barrels, filled to its 700-million-barrel-capacity.

While commercial U.S. oil stocks rebounded slightly in early August because of a boost in imports, they remained 37 million barrels, or nearly 12 percent, below the five-year average and 30 million barrels below what they were at the corresponding time a year ago, according to the DOE's Energy Information Administration.

A number of analysts said the supply problem stems from a variety of factors: the problem in getting Iraqi oil flowing again; OPEC producers carefully scrutinizing production; and U.S. refiners refusing to buy oil at $30 or more when they anticipate lower prices.

John Lichtblau, chairman of the nonprofit, New York-based Petroleum Industry Research Foundation, dismissed suggestions the strategic reserve shipments had a measurable impact on the global markets, as some critics of the Bush administration have contended.

“It’s a very small amount, 80,000 to 100,000 barrels a day out of total crude imports of nearly 10 million barrels a day,” Lichtblau said.

—The Associated Press contributed to this article