Rice energy expert available to comment on US plans to tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve

David Ruth
713-348-6327
druth@rice.edu

Franz Brotzen
713-348-6775
franz.brotzen@rice.edu

Rice energy expert available to comment on US plans to tap Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The U.S. Department of Energy today announced plans to release 30 million barrels of crude oil from the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The department cited lower supplies coming from OPEC and unrest in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries as the motivation. The move comes in conjunction with other members of the International Energy Agency also releasing 30 million barrels of oil in the next 30 days.

Kenneth Medlock, a fellow in energy and resource economics at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, is available to comment on today’s news.

“We have actually been calling for the federal government to do this in our recent policy reports,” Medlock said. “You’ll see a drop in oil prices today, but there are a lot of other things happening in the economy that influence gasoline prices, including the strength of the dollar overseas and the recent economic forecasts that have been released. All of these play a role in the price at the pump.

To set up an interview with Medlock, contact David Ruth, director of national media relations, at druth@rice.edu or 713-348-6327.