Bodman Says $80 a Barrel Oil Prices Are `Troublesome’

Record crude oil prices above $80 a barrel are “troublesome,” U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said today.

…The record prices underscore “how vital it is that we lower energy costs, cut oil consumption and make America more energy independent,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said in a statement today. “Democrats are working to do just that while Republicans continue to pander to big oil companies.”


Bodman praised the decision by OPEC to increase output.

“They have made a step, in my judgment, in the proper direction,” he told reporters today after giving a speech in Washington.

He declined to say whether the increase was sufficient or whether more are needed from OPEC, which is responsible for 40 percent of the world’s oil supplies.

Bloomberg