(Image source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

BY ALYSSA CARTEE

ANCHOR: CHRISTINA HARTMAN

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With oil prices at more than $100 a barrel, President Obama has signaled he may be willing to dip into the national reserve.

White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley discussed the option on NBC’s Meet the Press.  

GREGORY:  “But it’s on the table?  Which I think is a significant thing..."
BILL DALEY: “I think all considerations, all matters have to be on the table when you see the difficulty coming out of this economic crisis we’re in and the fragility of it.”

But not-so-shockingly, Democrats and Republicans have different views on whether using reserve oil is a good idea. An analyst for Fox News lays out the two sides of the debate.

“At this point this is supported by the Democrats who think this is the best way to help with the supply disruption. Republicans on the other hand would rather see us go to the Gulf Coast and start drilling again or go to Alaska to start drilling, but that would be a longer term option for what we're facing, which could be a long term unrest to the Middle East.”

Most analysts agree it isn’t a long-term solution -- but as for the short term -- not all Democrats on the same page. The New York Times points out one White House official may not be totally behind tapping into the reserves.  

“Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said on Friday that the administration was monitoring prices, but he seemed reluctant. (The Times quotes him as saying,) ‘We don’t want to be totally reactive so that when the price goes up everybody panics and when it goes back down everybody goes back to sleep.’”

For the Republican perspective, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin goes back to an old staple: the U.S. is too dependent on foreign oil.

“The solution is to drill here and drill now. The Obama anti-oil agenda has got to be stopped now. ...it is terrifying where he is leading us in terms of being at the mercy of foreign regimes that would seek our demise to produce energy for us.”

But a blogger for Gather suggests neither drilling nor using the reserves will fix the nation’s long-term energy problem.

“...this country needs to invest heavily on alternative fuels in order to reduce our consumption of oil.  It may not be a good choice to tap into the reserves just yet."

And while the immediate reaction to the possibility of dipping into the reserves is largely hesitant, the bigger question might be how much higher the price of crude will go. Analysts on The Wall Street Journal say no one really knows.

 “It’s just got everybody spooked.  But that’s natural.  We saw this two years ago when we were at these levels and the question is how much higher is it going to rise?  And as long as there is concern and anxiety in the Middle East then there’s no telling where that’s going to go.”

The New York Times reports the last time oil from the reserve was sold to cope with supply interruptions was in 2005, right after Hurricane Katrina.

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