Lawmakers want oil reserve opened

www.zwire.com Angela Carter, Register Staff March 10, 2003

WEST HAVEN — Susan Minniti takes her lunch to work this winter instead of eating out. Shopping trips are less frequent and she sometimes avoids the most convenient gas stations. "I go to the cheapest one there is," Minniti said Sunday, as she sat in her Richmond Avenue home with U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, and Patricia Wrice, executive director of Operation Fuel. Minniti and her husband, Tony Minniti, were describing to both lawmakers the sacrifices they are making because of a stinging spike in their oil bill. Tony Minniti showed them a December 2002 bill for $242 to fill his tank. Two days ago, he paid $335. "This winter’s been abnormally cold and very long," he said. "The price is up 60 to 70 percent over what we’ve paid in the past." Lieberman and DeLauro blasted President Bush and Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham for not releasing oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to alleviate price increases and supply shortages. "The supplies are demonstrably down by 50 percent in the Northeast," Lieberman said. "There’s nothing more (the Minnitis) can do to make their situation better, except keep their home colder than it should be." The reserve consists of about 2 million barrels of home heating oil and is intended for release during a crisis. DeLauro said New Haven harbor is a storage site for approximately 850,000 gallons. She and Lieberman in 2000 spearheaded legislation creating the reserve. "There was foresight to put something like this in place," DeLauro said. "This is a crisis in cost, and it is a very cold winter." When the Minnitis asked what was driving increases in gasoline and home heating oil prices, Lieberman pointed to an industry strike, now in its third month in Venezuela, and trepidation over a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Venezuela is the fifth-largest oil exporter in the world and the fourth-largest supplier to the United States. Iraq produces about 1.5 million barrels per day and approximately one-third reaches America, Lieberman said in a Feb. 24 letter urging Abraham to tap the Northeast supply. "This bothers me more now — knowing this reserve is there," Tony Minniti said. As for gasoline prices, Lieberman said the per-gallon average in Connecticut is $1.75, up from $1.20 per gallon at this time last year. He also said use of national petroleum reserves could buffer drivers against "gouging." Wrice said Operation Fuel was set up to help middle-class families like the Minnitis, who earn too much to qualify for home heating assistance through the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and therefore "fall through the cracks." She said homeowners are losing their houses because they can not afford to heat them. Lieberman said he does not think it is too late in the season to tap the reserve. White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said Bush has increased funding for heating assistance to low-income families and for weatherization programs. He referred questions on the petroleum and home heating reserves to an energy department spokesperson who could not be reached for comment. Susan Minniti said she hopes people will contact their legislators and the administration and push for relief. Angela Carter can be reached at 789-5614 or acarter@nhregister.com.