Bush chided for oil prices

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The Bush administration was criticized yesterday for not acting to curb escalating oil prices even as the price of gasoline at the pump rose to a record high nationwide.

At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the administration would not temporarily stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help lower oil prices and it would not publicly call on OPEC to roll back production cuts scheduled for April 1.

"We've ... made clear we're not going to beg for oil," said Mr. Abraham, although he later told reporters that the administration has been working behind the scenes to try to bring prices down.

"We have had a lot of contacts at a lot of levels," he said.

"We're not begging," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat. "We have men and women over there" in Iraq.

Iraq has the world's second-largest oil reserves after Saudi Arabia. The slow revival of exports from Iraq, despite U.S. control of the country, has been a factor driving up oil prices.

Mr. Kennedy and other committee Democrats said they were outraged that the administration is not doing everything in its power to alleviate the strain on drivers, consumers and businesses.

AAA announced yesterday that the price of regular-grade gasoline hit a record at about $1.74 a gallon, though the country is still months away from the peak summer-driving season, when gas prices normally are highest.

Average gas prices in California and some other states already are well above $2. The record gas prices reflect sharp increases in the price of crude oil, which hit a 13-year high of $38.15 a barrel last week in New York trading.