Submitted by New Energy News Blog

Several points President Bush made about energy and fuel costs at a recent press conference don’t stand up well under scrutiny. Questions about high gas prices prompted the President to talk about global oil supplies, U.S. refining infrastructure, oil & gas exploration in protected Alaskan regions and about the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The President also commented on power generation from coal and nuclear energy sources.

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Bush rhetoric on energy strays from the facts
H. Josef Hebert, April 29, 2008 (AP via Yahoo News)

WHO
President George W. Bush; H. Josef Hebert, veteran energy writer/analyst, Associated Press; The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)

The President and Hebert may both be right: The Saudis may not be able to produce as much as they used to or as much as they claim they can. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Hebert describes 6 topics on which the facts don’t match the President’s remarks: (1) Whether U.S. allies like Saudia Arabia could increase the global supply of oil; (2) Whether upping U.S. refining capacity could impact gas pump prices and whether using decommissioned military bases for new refineries would serve that purpose; (3) Whether oil & gas drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would impact gas prices; (4) Whether the U.S. should continue putting oil into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR); (5) Whether emissions reductions affect coal plants; (6) Whether Congress is impeding the building of nuclear power plants.

North American refining sites, many in the process of being upgraded. (click to enlarge)

WHEN
The President’s remarks came in a White House Rose Garden press conference April 29.

WHERE
- President Bush was asked about Saudi Arabia’s oil production.
- He was asked about the use of decommissioned military bases for new petroleum refineries.
- He talked about the need for oil & gas exploration and production in ANWR in the far northern protected regions of Alaska.
- He supported the continued supplying of the SPR in salt caverns along the Texas/Louisiana Gulf of Mexico coast.
- He advocated for the use of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a nuclear waste storage facility.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR): To fill it or not to fill it, that is the question. (click to enlarge)

WHY
- The President used a question about getting Saudi Arabia to up its oil production to talk about the need for more refining but, in fact, the Saudis 2 years ago produced a million barrels/day more than their current 8.5 million barrels/day output and claim they can get to 11 million/day.
- The President said Congress’s refusal to use old military bases for new refineries prevents the oil industry from keeping up with U.S. demand but when top executives of the biggest U.S. oil companies were asked whether they wanted to build new refineries, they said no. They are expanding the capacity of existing refineries significantly.
- On the President’s condemnation of Congress for preventing ANWR drilling and assertion it would lower gas prices, DOE sees 10 years as necessary to produce oil and not enough oil to change the market.
- While President Bush believes it is necessary to keep putting 70,000 barrels of crude a day into the SPR, the Republican Senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison, says there is enough there.
- President Bush said emissions caps threaten coal plants when, in fact, they are designed to allow them to stay in operation and build emissions-reductiontechnology.
- The President also said Congress prevents the building of new nuclear plants while in fact it has passed generous subsidies for nuclear power, though it is – as the President pointed out – blocking the use of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a nuclear waste dump.

ANWR: To drill or not to drill… (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- President Bush: “We’ve got to understand there’s not a lot of excess capacity in the world right now…”
- President Bush: “If Congress is interested, they can send the right signal by saying we are going to explore for oil and gas in U.S. territories, starting with ANWR,,,[which would]…likely will mean lower gas prices.”
- Hebert: “In 2005, the Energy Information Administration estimated that it would take about 10 years before oil would flow from ANWR if drilling were approved. By 2025, it said, the additional oil would have only a slight impact on global oil prices and cause a decline in gasoline prices of less than a penny a gallon, using constant 2003 dollars. Oil imports would drop from an expected 68 percent of U.S. demand to 64 percent, the EIA said.”
- Sen. Hutchison (R-Texas): “We have today a three-month supply of oil for emergencies…over the next four months we will deposit over 8 million barrels into the SPR at a very high price.”