U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

May 15, 2007

CONTACT:    Cody Wertz – Comm. Director
303-455-5999


  Sen. Salazar Questions Oil Industry Experts on Soaring Gasoline Prices

WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to AAA, a gallon of gas in Colorado is currently averaging more than $3.24 statewide, more than 40 cents higher than this time a year ago, with some locales on the Western Slope approaching $3.30 per gallon and higher.

Witnesses testified that production cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), more than usual refining outages in the U.S., and increasing U.S. demand for gasoline have all lead to the record prices. In a hearing today before the Senate Energy Committee, United States Senator Ken Salazar questioned the behavior of the gasoline market in the U.S., including the amount of money going from consumers’ pockets that is leading to record-breaking profits being made by the oil companies.

“Two-thirds of U.S. adults said in a recent poll that gasoline price increases had caused ‘financial hardship’ for their households while 36 percent said that the hardship had been ‘serious,’” said Senator Salazar. “These sentiments and today’s hearing brings to the forefront the problems our country faces because of our continued reliance on foreign oil and limited number of refineries.”

Senator Salazar pointed out the effects of this extraordinary burden on farmers, ranchers and rural communities. Colorado’s rural communities are not only facing rising gasoline costs, but the additional burden of high diesel prices. Already suffering from ongoing drought and other natural disasters, Colorado farmers are continuing to struggle with the rising cost of diesel, now a statewide average $3.19 per gallon.

Senator Salazar is hard at work on long-term solutions to reduce America’s demand for imported gasoline and is pushing for the passage of the Energy Savings Act of 2007, which will boost the renewable fuels content in U.S. gasoline, starting at 8.5 billion gallons in 2008, to 36 billion gallons in 2022, and which has the goal of reducing America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 2017 and by 45 percent in 2030 – the equivalent to 5.6 million barrels of oil per day.

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