WASHINGTON -- A move by two Democratic senators in 2008 to stop the Bush administration from buying oil and putting it in the national reserve has since saved taxpayers more than $600 million, according to a Department of Energy analysis, North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan said today.
Dorgan and New Mexico Sen. Jeff Bingaman spearheaded legislation that was enacted in May 2008, preventing the purchase of crude oil until the end of that year.
At that time, crude oil prices were more than $100 per barrel - a cost that dropped dramatically by the end of 2008.
The legislation, passed by a 97-1 vote, forced the Bush administration and the DOE to deal with the realities of the marketplace, rather than continuing on "auto-pilot," Dorgan said in a statement.
"It made no sense for the government to continue buying oil at that high price and put it underground when the Strategic Reserve was already 97 percent filled," Dorgan said. "I'm pleased we saved over a half a billion dollars for the American taxpayer without impacting national security one bit."
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Bingaman joined in the statement, saying the success of the legislation "serves as a reminder that realistic, thoughtful and bipartisan energy legislation benefits everyone."
