Obama to sell 30M barrels of reserve oil

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration said Thursday it is selling off 30 million barrels of oil from the country's emergency reserves as part of a broader international response to lost oil supplies caused by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly Libya.

The release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be the largest ever, amounting to half of a 60 million-barrel infusion of oil planned for the world market over the next month announced by the International Energy Agency. Even so, the 30 million barrels to be sold by the United States represents less than two days' worth of domestic oil consumption and about three days of oil imports.

White House officials would not predict how the release will affect prices at the pump, although the move is intended to increase supplies during the peak summer driving season.

The move comes as retail gasoline prices nationally dropped for the 20th consecutive day.

The timing brought criticism from business groups and Republican lawmakers, who accused President Barack Obama of playing politics with the country's oil reserves, which are intended to address emergencies.

The government is wary of dipping into the petroleum reserves, releasing oil only in extreme cases, such as hurricanes, that affect oil supplies. The reserves were created in 1974 in response to the Arab oil embargo and last tapped in 2008 after hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

The administration said the uprising in Libya has resulted in a loss of about 1.5 million barrels of oil a day. The IEA said roughly 132 million barrels of Libyan light, sweet crude had been removed from the world market as of May. ---- AP