Oil Crisis As Barrels Go Missing, According to Audit

How do you not notice when 308,000 barrels of oil go missing?

That's the question government auditors were asking after they looked into the Department of Energy's management of oil received for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a critical program to assure energy stability in the U.S. in case of an oil crisis.

To help add to the reserve, DOE receives a portion of the royalty oil that the Department of the Interior gets in return for allowing petroleum companies to drill on government lands and waters. Read more..
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2008/01/oil-crisis-as-b.html

Senate drills Bush official over oil prices

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A Senate panel grilled a key government energy expert Tuesday over why the Bush administration plans to continue adding to the nation's oil reserve as the price of crude spikes near $100 a barrel.

Lawmakers also accused the administration of turning a blind eye to the role that oil speculators are playing in driving up prices.

The Department of Energy is planning to spend nearly $1 billion in 2008 to boost the amount of oil the nation holds in its 750 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/11/news/economy/oil_speculation/index.htm?postversion=2007121117