WASHINGTON -- President Bush urged Americans to cut back on unnecessary travel to make up for fuel shortages caused by Hurricane Rita, said the Associated Press.
Bush said the government was ready to release additional fuel from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to alleviate high prices. The president spoke after he attended a meeting at the U.S. Department of Energy at which officials told him they still were trying to assess the damage to oil production and refineries in Rita's path.
The president said he would get a personal [image-nocss] report from local officials when he visited the area around the refinery towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas.
Meanwhile, he encouraged motorists to conserve energy and said he has directed federal agencies to do the same. If it makes sense for the citizen out there to curtail nonessential travel, it darn sure makes sense for federal employees, Bush said. We can encourage employees to car pool or use mass transit, and we can shift peak electricity use to off-peak hours. There's ways for the federal government to lead when it comes to conservation.
As of yesterday, 16 Texas oil refineries remained shut down after the storm, and crews found significant damage to at least one in the Port Arthur area, said Energy Department spokesperson Craig Stevens.
Bush said Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who briefed him along with Interior Secretary Gale Norton, is working with Houston officials to help get trucks into that city to help refill sold-out gas stations. He said he also instructed Bodman to consider how the SPR can be used to help lower gasoline prices, with about two-thirds of Americans responding to recent polls saying high gasoline prices are causing them financial hardship.
Valero Energy Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Oil Co. said Monday they had reopened many of their Houston-area gas stations, although they warned that some could run out of fuel again due to high demand.
Valero said 202 of its 231 Houston-area stores had reopened and 112 had fuel. The company said it would continue refueling efforts.
Exxon Mobil said about 50 stations in Harris, Brazoria, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties had reopened. The company said it would update the list of stations twice daily on its website, adding that stations could run out.
Shell and Motiva Enterprises LLC said Monday that 60% of Shell-branded stations in the Houston area have gasoline and that the number increases every hour. More than 486 tanker loads or 4.3 million gallons of fuel have been shipped to strategic station locations across the greater Houston area and along return routes from Dallas, Austin and San Antonio since Saturday. The companies will continue to deliver fuel, with at least 70 deliveries scheduled by midnight Monday.
Click here to read the fact sheet President Bush Discusses Energy Supplies in the Gulf Region.
Click here to view the full text of President Bush's speech.
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