The US should consider new gasoline and diesel taxes and expand domestic oil and natural gas production to recently opened offshore areas to increase the nation’s energy security, IEA chief economist Fatih Birol said today. The US government should consider taking advantage of falling oil prices by establishing taxes on fuel that would “lock in the efficiency gains that resulted from last year’s price surge.”
Birol also warned that along with falling demand, the economic slump could reduce energy investment too much and lead to another global spike in fuel prices in several years as the economy recovers.