Richardson Presses for U.S. Oil Production

The United States must reduce its dependence on foreign oil in response to growing international terrorism, new Energy Secretary Bill Richardson warned on his first day on the job. The United States imports about half the oil it consumes, and foreign oil shipments are expected to increase as American crude production drops. Richardson said he wants to reverse that trend. “I would like more emphasis in . . . the development of resources here,” he told reporters. “I want to see us find ways to make it easier for domestic oil production to grow.” Many domestic oil producers are plugging their crude wells as low prices make it uneconomical to pump oil. As a result, foreign oil is flooding the U.S. market. Because of low oil prices, Richardson said this might be a good time to buy crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, established 25 years ago as an emergency stockpile of oil. The oil market worldwide has been glutted for nearly a year, forcing prices down about 40% since last autumn to levels not seen since before the first oil price shock in the mid-1970s when inflation is taken into account.