When, Not If: Obama Will Release SPR Oil

When, Not If: Obama Will Release SPR Oil

by Steve LeVine, Foreign Policy

Steve LeVine, Foreign Policy
Look for President Barack Obama to order a significant release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the emergency stockpile held by the federal government. At most, it may trigger a short-lived drop in today's high gasoline prices. But Obama is battling history: Since Richard Nixon, gas prices have snuck up and startled otherwise occupied presidents, and led them into a flurry of actions that, while usually ineffective, have the virtue of making them look like they are doing something