The Bush administration will not draw on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, to force down the oil price.

White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan explains that "the SPR is there for emergencies," while Bush says implementing the energy policy that he proposes to Congress is the most important objective.

The White House is under pressure from some quarters to release oil from the SPR in a bid to dampen prices, which have hits record highs in recent months.

Crude oil prices would have climbed higher if, as was feared earlier, production by the Russian Yukos Oil Company had been stopped.

(CRE August 5, 2004)