Petro Patrol

In one week, gas has fallen another four cents, to $3.89 from $3.93. It is expected to fall even further over the summer, because of President Obama's decision last Thursday to tap into the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The president announced on June 23 that he would authorize the release of 30 million barrels from the strategic oil reserve into the global oil markets over the next month.

This is only the second time that a president has tapped into the special oil reserve: The last time was after Hurricane Katrina, which caused a 38 million barrel disruption.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was started in 1974 to avert a repeat of the supply disruption caused by the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo.

Right now, SPR is at an historically high level of 727 million barrels, and the 30 million barrels allotted for release next month make up less than five percent of the total reserve.

Asked why the administration decided to release the reserves now, as gas prices in the U.S. have come down in recent weeks from the $4-a-gallon peak this spring ($4.23 in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn). The official answered that “this is something that has been in the works for a while.”