McCain Credits Bush for Drop in Crude Oil Prices, White House Basically Replies: ‘It wasn’t us.’

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Wednesday credited the recent drop in the price of oil to President Bush’s lifting of a presidential ban on offshore drilling.

“The price of oil dropped $10 a barrel,” said McCain, who argued that the psychology of lifting the ban has affected world markets.  But the White House didn’t go quite that far.

When asked about the McCain statement, presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said the recent drop in price could also be a product of diminished demand.

“I don’t know if we fully deserve the credit, but I do think that it was important to send a signal to the market that we are serious about moving forward.”

At last check, a barrel of light, sweet crude oil fell to $124.47 on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday. That’s down from more than $140 a barrel earlier in the summer.

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• “McCain Calls for More Offshore Drilling - What Else Would he Say in Houston?”

Photo Credit: jurvetson via flickr under a Creative Commons License

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