Unrest in the Middle East has had its predictable effect on world oil prices, leading to predictable calls for the United States to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

William Daley, President Obama’s chief of staff, said Sunday that the president is considering using the reserve along with many other options to respond to rising prices.

That’s probably a way to express concern for consumers who are paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas. But that’s as far as it should go for now.

There is no way of knowing whether releasing oil from the reserve would lower prices. Oil prices are not spiking because the crisis in Libya has made a dent in the world supply. Libya only produced 2 percent of the world’s oil and its production has been reduced, not eliminated.

What the crisis has done is create uncertainty in the world’s markets, and that makes all oil more expensive. Putting more U.S. oil on the market may have no effect on investors’ fear of the future.

And using the reserve now would mean that it would not be available if there were a more serious crisis.

In the short term, encouraging oil-producing allies to put more oil up for sale and better exploiting domestic offshore sources would be a better strategy.

In the long run, developing alternative fuels and conservation measures that would make us less vulnerable to upheaval in a volatile region would be better still.

 

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