Bush signs law freezing shipments to US oil reserve

US President George W. Bush on Monday signed legislation that suspends shipments to the US strategic oil reserve for the second half of the year amid sky-high gasoline prices, the White House said.

The move was announced in a terse statement by spokeswoman Dana Perino that offered no details on the measure, which the White House had opposed as an ineffective counter to pain at the pump for US consumers.

The US Energy Department announced that it was taking action under the legislation, opting not to sign a six-month contract for deliveries to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the world's largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil.

The decision affects up to 13 million barrels of crude oil, the department said in a statement.

"We don't believe that halting the fill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will have much of an impact on oil prices, and therefore an impact on gas prices," Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel told reporters earlier.

"But the president is not going to stand in their way on this bill."