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rude oil prices fell for a fourth day and Senate Republicans offered a plan to give Americans $100 rebate payments and called for more oil drilling in Alaska.
Benchmark light sweet crude oil futures fell to $70.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the fourth decline this week. Futures closed at a record $75.17 last Friday.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (D-Tenn.) unveiled a bill to give consumers with incomes of less than $125,000 a year $100 rebates, Bloomberg reported. It would apply to couples with incomes of $150,000 or less.
The bill would also open the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. If enacted it would give consumers relief at gas pumps and help bring down the price over the long term, Frist said at a press conference in Washington, Bloomberg reported.
The congressional action came as oil companies reported big profits for the first quarter amid soaring oil and retail fuel prices. (Click here for previous coverage.)
Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden (D) staged a nearly five-hour filibuster Thursday speaking about his proposal to require energy companies to pay a federal royalty on oil pumped from the Gulf of Mexico if prices exceed $55 a barrel, the Associated Press reported. No action was taken.
