Senator Murkowski to Participate in Energy Hearing on Hurricane Katrina and Escalating Gasoline Prices

SENATOR MURKOWSKI TO PARTICIPATE IN ENERGY HEARING ON HURRICANE KATRINA AND ESCALATING GASOLINE PRICES

Sen. Lisa Murkowski will address the escalating gasoline prices and overall impact of Hurricane Katrina on the nation's oil supply, Tuesday, Sept. 6, in a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

Murkowski made the following statement today about the hearing next week.

"The release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPRO) to help refiners affected by the hurricane is a good thing, but more needs to be done to help consumers with the ever increasing energy prices. Even before Hurricane Katrina, the Energy Committee had scheduled a major hearing focusing on the supply and demand for oil, and the impact of increased gas prices on our economy.

"The hearing will examine the need to diversify our capacity so that we are better able to both refine and produce oil in the United States. It may lead to discussions about alternate sources of supply, and the need to ensure that our capacity is spread out over a larger geographic area so that a catastrophic event such as this one will not have such a negative impact.

"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there are some critical issues that we must address regarding our nation's energy supply and energy security. Specifically, we need to examine whether we have concentrated our refining and distribution system too much in the Gulf region."

The full committee hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 6, in room 106 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. More info about the hearing on the committee website at http://energy.senate.gov/public//

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=245202