By Susan Cornwell and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he is not in agreement with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's call for tapping the strategic oil reserve to lower gas prices, saying he believed the reserve was there to be used if there is a collapse in supply in times of emergency.
"I'm not in agreement with that. I think that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not for a raise in prices, it's for a collapse in supply at times of emergency, i.e. a conflagration in the Middle East which essentially shuts off supply," Hoyer told reporters when asked if he agreed with Schumer's comments.
Schumer said on Sunday that President Joe Biden's administration should tap into emergency petroleum reserves to lower rising gasoline prices as Americans go into the holiday season.
Soaring gas prices and car sales drove a solid increase in U.S. producer prices in October as oil prices hit more than $80 a barrel, with OPEC and its allies rebuffing U.S. pleas for the producers to pump more crude.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said earlier this month that Biden could act, but there was still no word on whether he would authorize a sale from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is held in a series of caverns on the Texas and Louisiana coasts.
Analysts have warned a release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would only produce a short-term effect, as it would not increase U.S. production capacity.
Earlier this month, 11 Senate Democrats urged Biden in a letter to tap the SPR and ban crude oil exports to lower gas prices, citing OPEC constraints on supplies and U.S. exports.