Energy costs are concerning analysts, not to mention American families

Most Americans are not too happy with the way the President is handling the energy crisis.  This is a survey from the latest ABC News/Washington Post Poll (PollingReport.com):

"Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling the situation     with gasoline prices?"

Approve - 22%
Disapprove - 73%
Unsure - 6%

"Have recent price increases in gasoline caused any financial hardship for you or others in your household, or not?"

Have - 66%
Have Not - 34%

"Do you think there's anything the Bush Administration reasonably can do to reduce gasoline prices, or do you think gas prices have risen because of factors beyond the Administration's control?"

Can Do Something - 60%
Beyond Their Control - 36%
Unsure - 4%

Speaking of energy costs, gasoline prices rose yet again.  According to Bloomberg News, the President has decided to tap into the U.S. energy reserves -- something that he has spoken against doing until this point (other than Hurricane Ivan).  This desperate move will not mean much until the U.S. can get the oil refineries that were damaged from Hurricane Katrina back up and running (Bloomberg):

The government's oil ``is not going to be of much helpunless we get refineries running again,'' Adam Sieminski, globaloil strategist at Deutsche Bank AG in New York, said before theannouncement. ``Releasing oil from the SPR right now would beactually inappropriate because there would be no place to putit.''

Gasoline futures touched a record $2.925 a gallon today onthe New York Mercantile Exchange as refineries remained idlealong the coast. Fuel wholesalers across much of the U.S.yesterday started curtailing deliveries to filling stations andconvenience stores because of the refinery and pipelineshutdowns. Deborah White, an oil analyst at Societe Generale SAin Paris, said pump prices will soon reach $3 a gallon.

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute,said emergency oil from the reserve is ``very, very valuable'' torefineries in the area that weren't shut down.

``You have to keep the feedstock, i.e. crude oil, going tothem if you're going to have any hope of keeping them up andrunning,'' Cavaney said at a news conference in Washington.

This is what happens when demand for oil is so high.  Any short-term supply-side shock can be disastrous to not just oil prices, but the overall economy as well.  Analysts are predicting this winter that home heating bills will soar.