WASHINGTON, May 14: US President George W. Bush on Saturday stressed the need for a “comprehensive strategy” to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. In his weekly radio address, Bush said that next week, officials will “discuss our need for a comprehensive national energy strategy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil.”

“This strategy will encourage more efficient technologies, make the most of our existing resources, help global energy consumers like China and India reduce their own use of hydrocarbons, encourage conservation and develop promising new sources of energy such as hydrogen, ethanol and biodiesel,” Bush said, calling the focus one that would “strengthen the long-term economic security of our nation.” Bush more specifically said he would be touting “the benefits of biodiesel, an alternative fuel that will help our country achieve greater energy independence.”

High oil prices are politically unpopular in the United States, and have been blamed by some for undercutting Bush’s popularity and taking some steam out of the US economic growth rate. But Bush still touted US economic progress, saying it had come thanks to his pro-growth policies.

“The pro-growth policies we have pursued during the past four years are having a positive effect on our economy,” Bush argued. “We added 274,000 new jobs in April — and we have added nearly 3.5 million jobs over the past two years. Unemployment is down to 5.2 per cent, below the average rate of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.”

“These positive signs are a tribute to the effort and enterprise of America’s workers and entrepreneurs,” Bush added.

He urged Congress to “get a good energy bill to my desk by the August recess so I can sign it into law.” Also next week, Bush will discuss expanding trade and retooling the politically sensitive US Social Security system.

Economists are closely watching the state of the gasoline market in the United States with the onset of the US summer driving season, when many Americans take to the roads for vacations beginning on the May 30 US Memorial Day holiday. The latest weekly snapshot from the US Department of Energy (DoE) showed increasing levels of US crude stockpiles. The DoE said that crude oil inventories for the week ended May 6 had increased by 2.7m barrels to stand at 329.7m, beating market forecasts of an increase of 1.5 million, though prices at the pump have yet to ease much.—AFP