Washington, D.C. – Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete V. Domenici today warned that oil won’t stop at $50 a barrel if Nigerian rebels carry out Oct. 1 threat of war against Nigerian government and the federal government, as expected, releases numbers tomorrow showing that U.S. commercial crude inventories dropped again this week. Domenici also noted that oil was trading at $27 a barrel in May, 2001, when President Bush sent his national energy policy plan to the Hill and asked Congress to pass comprehensive energy legislation. Domenici urged Democrats to stop blocking an energy bill that does everything politically possible to reduce oil prices, including streamlined permitting for new oil wells, incentives for increased production from marginal inland wells and deep-water Gulf of Mexico wells and incentives for government, commercial and consumer conservation of gasoline. Chairman Pete V. Domenici’s statement: “Tight domestic supply, bad weather and global instability have driven the price of crude to $50 a barrel. As we move into winter, I expect supplies to remain tight and prices to climb. That’s great news for OPEC nations, but deeply troubling news for the U.S. economy and American consumers. OPEC nations OPEC is going to haul in from $300 to $360 billion in additional export earnings this year due solely to the surge in oil prices. Meanwhile, our trade deficit climbs and Americans struggle to heat their homes and fill their cars. I agree with Alan Greenspan that spike in oil prices have taken some of the bloom off our economic recovery. “Republicans have spent 3 years trying to pass an energy bill that does everything politically possible for oil, gas, coal, nuclear and renewable energies. Since President Bush sent his energy plan to the Hill, the cost of natural gas has gone up 25 percent, coal prices have doubled, crude oil has nearly doubled and heating oil has more than doubled. All that in 3 ½ short years. And yet, only 14 Democrats voted for the energy bill. This week, the price of oil exceeds $50 a barrel, and still Democrats stall.”