Thursday, May 25, 2006

House or Representatives approves drilling in ANWR!

Well it's about damn time! Allahpundit at Hot Air quotes the Anchorage Daily News which says that the bill won't make it out of the Senate.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House voted Thursday to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but the move was primarily symbolic, since opponents in the Senate are certain to filibuster.

The vote was 225-201.

[...] The bill could go to the Senate next, but Democrats there would undoubtedly block it, and Republicans don't appear to have the 60 votes they need to break a filibuster.


So what happened in the markets today along with this? Exxon's stock's up...

Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest publicly traded oil provider, and U.S. Steel Corp. led the market's advance on speculation demand for raw materials will increase.


Crude oil went up $0.18 but that's due to a stalemate in talks with Iran and specualtion surrounding a possible future conflict. But more good news for oil prices along with possible drilling in ANWR, US gasoline stockpiles are still higher than expected near record levels and OPEC is predicting near record levels of crude production this year.