Read more: Local, Claire Mccaskill, Senator Mccaskill, Oil, Gas Prices, Oil Reserves, Strategic Oil Reserve, Columbia Mccaskill in Columbia, Mccaskill on Gas Prices, High Gas Prices, Pain at Pump, Fight for Fairness Tour, Keystone Pipeline, Which Runs through Northwestern Missouri, Speculators out of the Oil Market
|
|
Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill is on a statewide tour this week talking about the economy.
She calls it her "Fighting for Fairness" tour, and she made a stop in Columbia Wednesday.
Senator McCaskill said she wants to tap into the nation's strategic oil reserves to knock speculators out of the oil market.
She told us if the government puts part of the reserve on the market, prices will fall and then you'll see some relief at the pump, "if we would release some oil from the strategic reserve it would cause the price of oil to go down, maybe not permanently, but temporarily, and it would catch those speculators kind of with their pants down".
She favors the Keystone Pipeline, which runs through northwestern Missouri, and more domestic production, but she also wants an investigation into the refining capacity, "I am very worried that some of the big five oil companies have shut down capacity in order to artificially keep the supply low", McCaskill told us.
But, as far as what you can expect in the near future, she says don't count on any changes at the pump, "I would love to be able to tell you I could bring down gas prices but I can assure you if there were a magic bullet to do that, it would have been shot a long time ago".
McCaskills's tour also will take her to Sedalia, Springfield and Kansas City.
Popular Stories
|
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG