Obama says he wants oil producers to boost output

As the high cost of gasolene takes a toll on politics and pocket books, United States President Barack Obama says he is calling on major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia to increase their oil supplies to help stabilise prices, warning starkly that lack of relief would harm the global economy.

"We are in a lot of conversations with the major oil producers like Saudi Arabia to let them know that it's not going to be good for them if our economy is hobbled because of high oil prices," Obama told a Detroit TV station.

His remarks signalled a broad new appeal in the face of skyrocketing gasolene prices in the United States, and they came as he reiterated a call for Congress to repeal oil industry tax breaks.

In interviews Tuesday with WXYZ in Detroit and in WTKR in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Obama said the message to major oil producers like Saudi Arabia is that an economy that buckles because of high oil prices won't grow and won't be good for them or for the US.

pushing them

Obama acknowledged disruptions in oil production because of the war in Libya. But he said others can make up the difference and "we're pushing them to do so".

Libya supplied less than 2 per cent of world demand. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries already are covering some of that shortage by boosting production.

The president's effort to compel more overseas production echoed calls by President George W. Bush in 2008 urging Saudi Arabia to increase supplies during that year's spike in gasolene prices. The Saudis rebuffed Bush's efforts.

Obama said he has stressed the self-interest of oil-producing nations, arguing that "if we're not growing, they're not going to be making money either.

"And so they need to increase supplies," he told WTKR.

Gas pump prices in the US have climbed for 35 consecutive days. The national average rose by a penny to hit US$3.87 a gallon on Tuesday, more than a dollar than a year ago. The price already has exceeded US$4 a gallon in some regions of the country.

In a letter to congressional leaders Tuesday, Obama urged them to take steps to repeal oil industry tax breaks, reiterating a call he made in his 2012 budget proposal earlier this year.

The White House conceded that plan would do nothing in the short term to lower gasolene prices.

The president wrote a day after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he was willing to "take a look at" repealing the multibillion-dollar tax subsidies enjoyed by the major oil companies.

Boehner aides on Tuesday sought to clarify Boehner's stance, stressing that he was not advocating repeal of the tax breaks.

"He has said all along that he is opposed to raising taxes," Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith said. "That's his position."

- AP