Isaac increases likelihood U.S. strategic oil will be released

Rising gasoline prices and production cuts tied to a tropical storm churning through the Gulf of Mexico have some energy analysts telling Bloomberg the United States will soon announce a release from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Gasoline prices climbed Sunday to the highest level since May as Tropical Storm Isaac caused evacuation of oil platforms, shutting 78% of the Gulf oil output and several refineries. A recent explosion and fatal fire at the largest refinery in Venezuela may also crimp supplies. “Isaac and the Venezuelan refinery explosion increase the chances that we will have a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve,” says Whitney Stanco, a Washington-based analyst with Guggenheim Securities. The announcement “might happen this week or early next week,” she says. The petroleum reserve, consisting of salt caverns along the Gulf of Mexico coast, can hold as much as 727 million barrels of crude oil. More analysis and the White House’s official comments on the matter are available in the full story here.