President George W. Bush urged Tuesday that Congress agree to lift legislative restrictions on offshore oil drilling to help produce more domestic energy production.
"One thing is for certain, when Congress comes back, they've got to understand that we need more domestic energy, not less," Bush told reporters after being briefed on the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.
"One place to find it is offshore America, lands that have been taken off the books, so to speak, by congressional law, and now they need to give us a chance to find more oil and gas here at home," he added.
No reported casualty has been caused by Hurricane Gustav, which has swept the U.S. Gulf coast region, including New Orleans, Louisiana, where about 1,600 people died after Katrina Hurricane hit in 2005.
Crude oil slid below 108 dollars a barrel Tuesday morning as traders shifted their concern from Gustav to dampening global demand.
Bush said that it was a little early to assess the damage Hurricane Gustav caused to energy production, noting there were some encouraging signs.
"We didn't see much of that this time, but I will tell you it's a little early to be making any forecasts," he said.
Bush, in his final months of office, has lifted the executive ban and repeatedly urged the Democrats-dominant Congress to lift legislative restrictions on such activity before they begin a recess in August.
The U.S. economy suffers from gasoline prices hike that reached over 4 U.S. dollars a gallon (3.785 liter) in summer, and U.S. Congress and the White House are stressing different ways to ease the oil crisis.
The White House insisted that increase in U.S. oil drilling will help to deal the soaring gas prices.
However, many Democrats in the Congress refused to lift the drilling ban, noting oil companies already have 68 million acres under government leases they can drill and any new oil from now-closed offshore areas would not be available for five to 10 years.
Source:Xinhua
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