Shell Oil president advocates conservation

The president of Shell Oil said Tuesday if Americans cut their gas consumption slightly, there would be a significant drop in prices.

However, said John Hofmeister, the current political leadership refuses to actively promote conservation as an antidote to high prices, despite industry briefings that lay out the potential savings.
The effect is that the nation and world are consuming gas at almost exactly the rate that oil companies can pump and refine it, leaving no buffer of untapped reserves — known as “supply overhang” — in the event of a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina or a terrorist attack on the energy infrastructure. Moreover, the unabated demand puts continuous upward pressure on the price paid at the pump.

UPI