President Clinton has ordered the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to help bring down record high prices for American consumers in an election year. It is the first time the reserves of 571 million barrels have been used since the Gulf War in 1991.
The decision was made after a meeting with key advisers at the White House and a day after Vice President Al Gore urged Mr Clinton to release the oil in five-million barrel quantities from the reserve which was set up after the 1973 Arab oil embargo as leverage to try to head off soaring oil costs this winter.
Asked about the extent that the Vice-President's aides are involved in the decision-making process on the issue, the a White House spokesman replied: "The Vice-President's aides are part of the economic team. They've been involved in the process from the beginning."
Asked about the extent to which the Vice-President's aides were involved in the decision-making process, the spokesman replied: "The Vice-President's aides are part of the economic team. They've been involved in the process from the beginning."
Mr Gore's Republican opponents have stepped up their criticism of what they see as his using the high energy prices to help him get elected. They also point to a leaked memo from the Treasury Secretary, Mr Larry Summers, saying an earlier Department of Energy recommendation to release 60 million barrels would be "a substantial policy mistake".
The Republican presidential nominee, Mr George W. Bush, had earlier denounced Mr Gore's proposal at an election meeting yesterday, saying the strategic reserve was "an insurance policy meant for sudden disruption of oil supplies or for war". It "should not be used as an attempt to drive down oil prices right before an election."
Mr Bush's vice-presidential running mate, Mr Dick Cheney, called the Gore proposal "a crass political move". He said on the campaign trail yesterday in Missouri that the Clinton administration's energy policy had made the US too dependent on foreign oil and contributed to high prices at the pumps.
"So, having done absolutely nothing for seven years, with seven weeks to go, they all of a sudden get religion and want to tap the reserves to help Al Gore's political problems at the polls. This is not sound policy," Mr Cheney said.
The Gore campaign retorted that the Republican ticket represented the interests of "Big Oil". A spokeswoman for Mr Gore, Ms Kym Spell, also said that Mr Cheney last year welcomed OPEC's agreement to cut production and that this had led to the higher oil prices.
The move to release the oil reserves was last night welcomed by the British government. A Downing Street spokesman said: "We hope that this move, along with other efforts being made at international level, will help to bring about a reduction in oil prices in the very near future."
Reuters adds: Borrowing the rhetoric of President John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush pledged yesterday to "lead a medical moonshot" with a $91 billion plan to encourage research on curing diseases.
Mr Bush unveiled his proposal during a town hall meeting with elderly citizens in Florida, where he and his Democratic rival, Mr Al Gore, are locked in a close race despite Mr Bush's younger brother, Jeb, being governor.